Dr. Meg Elkins
Details
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Department: Economics Finance & Marketing
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Campus: City Campus Australia
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meg.elkins@rmit.edu.au
Open to
- Media enquiries
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
- Industry Projects
About
Meg is a cultural and behavioural economist whose research focuses on those on the economic fringes and community wellbeing. Her work examines how information biases shape decision-making, with particular interest in artists' livelihoods, street performers, social protection, poverty reduction, and wellbeing. She has led research teams evaluating the economic impact of arts investment for the City of Melbourne and served as inaugural research leader for the Placemaking Economics Group. She is a member of the Behavioural Business Lab, serves as Secretary for the Economic Society of Australia (Victorian Branch), and is Associate Editor of Cogent Economics and Finance.
As a media economist, Meg regularly provides commentary on economic issues across television (ABC News, 7News, Nine News, SBS World News), radio (ABC Melbourne, BBC Radio 4, Radio National, 3AW, RNZ, and numerous regional stations), and print (The Age, Financial Review, Herald Sun, ABC Life, Yahoo Finance, BBC News).
In teaching, Meg is an innovative and passionate educator driven to achieve excellent outcomes for her students. She currently designs and leads the Graduate Business Portfolio, the capstone unit for all Bachelor of Business students. As programme leader for economics and finance (2017-2020), she developed meaningful industry partnerships with IBM, ASIC, ATEC Global Research Centre, and Finding Infinity. Her teaching excellence has been recognised through multiple university awards, most recently the RMIT University Mabel Sandes Leadership Award for Academic Excellence in 2025. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and served as an assessor for the Australian Awards University Teaching Excellence Panel in 2018.
Industry Experience
- 2020: The Busking Project - Creative industry platform
- 2016-2017: City of Melbourne - Arts Strategy Team
- 1990-2013: Professional actor
- Television: MDA, Neighbours, Stingers, Blue Heelers, Country Practice, Simon DeBeauvoir's Babies, Australia's Most Wanted
- Film: Hoorah, The Dish
- Television commercials: Westpac, Carpet Court, K-Mart
Awards
2025
- Mabel Sandes Leadership Award for Academic Excellence, RMIT University
- Media Star Top Performer, COBL RMIT University
2024
- Media Star, RMIT COBL
- Economics, Finance and Marketing Teaching Excellence Award, RMIT University
2023
- Media Star Top Performer, RMIT COBL
2022
- Learning and Teaching Partnerships Award, COBL RMIT University
- Media Star Top Performer, RMIT COBL
2021
- Rising Media Star, RMIT University
2020
- Media Star Top Performer, RMIT COBL
2017
- Individual Teaching and Learning Excellence Award, School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University
2016
- Nominated for National Award, Office of Learning and Teaching: Teaching Excellence Award for Law, Economics, Business and Related Studies
2015
- Teaching Excellence Award, College of Business, RMIT University
- Individual Teaching and Learning Excellence Award, School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University
- Individual Teaching and Learning Award, School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University
2014
- Collaborative Teaching and Learning Award, School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University
- Runner-up Early Career Researcher of the Year, School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University
- Runner-up 3-Minute Presentation, College of Business, RMIT University
2012
- Best PhD Student Presentation, Monash Graduate Students Conference in Economics
Research fields
- 3801 Applied economics
- 380102 Behavioural economics
- 380199 Applied economics not elsewhere classified
Supervisor projects
- Placemaking and Economic Development: Transformative Strategies for Sustainable Communities
- 23 May 2025
- Entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative industries
- 19 Sep 2024
- Air Pollution, Socioeconomic Status, and Hospital Emergency Visits: An Empirical Analysis in Victoria, Australia
- 1 Dec 2023
- Impact of Temperature Variation on Human Behaviour and Cognition
- 27 Jan 2021
- Socio-Economic Integration of Newly Arrived Refugees in Australia
- 1 May 2018
- The Effect of Government of Pakistan¿s Common Facility Centre (CFC) Program on Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Competitiveness: The Role of SMEs' Dynamic Capabilities
- 8 Aug 2016
Teaching interests
Supervisor interest areas:
-Behavioural economics
-Economics of Disadvantage
-Culture and the arts
-Community wellbeing
Supervisor projects:
-Khuram Shazhad: PhD Completed February 2020
“The Effect of Common Facility Centre (CFC) Program on SMEs’ Competitiveness in Pakistan: The Moderating Role of Dynamic Capabilities” – VC Scholarship Recipient – with Supervisors Pia Arenius and Afreen Huc
-Summera Maqbool Abbasi Abbasi PhD Completed October 2024
Temperature Shocks and Domestic Violence
with supervisors - Lisa Farrell and Sefa Awaworyi Churchill
-Harris Mazari: PhD Completed May 2025
The relationship between psychological factors and the economic and social integration of refugees in Australia
with supervisors Lisa Farrell and Sefa Awaworyi Churchill
CURRENT RESEARCH STUDENTS
RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION Howard Willbury Placemaking and Economic Development: Transformative Strategies for Sustainable Communities with Lisa Farrell Michelle Carter Entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative industries with Bronwyn CoatePrograms
-Bachelor of Business
Capstone Unit Coordinator of Business Graduate Portfolio - for all BBUS students are RMIT COBL
(https://www.rmit.edu.au/study-with-us/business)
Research interests
Research Interests
Meg's research spans three areas: behavioural economics and decision-making, culture and the arts, and societal development and wellbeing. In behavioural economics, she investigates information biases, inflationary psychology, curiosity and how it influences recruitment and workplace outcomes. Her cultural economics research explores street performers' livelihoods and payment systems, volunteering in community arts programmes, and the economic impact of arts investment. In development economics, she examines social protection policies, housing insecurity and homelessness (particularly among youth), poverty reduction strategies, and wellbeing outcomes.
Research keywords: Behavioural Economics, Arts and Culture, Information Bias, Social Protection, Wellbeing, Housing Insecurity, Street Performance, Curiosity
