Editors

Dr Penny Hayes

Senior Copywriter and Course Presenter

• Doctor of Philosophy (Politics), University of Otago
• Master of Arts with Distinction (Political Studies), University of Otago
• Post Graduate Diploma in Arts Subjects (Economics & Political Studies), University of Otago
• Bachelor of Arts (Economics), University of Otago

Dr Penelope Hayes is a copywriter, researcher, consultant and editor with formal training in both economics and political studies. She taught politics at the University of Otago and economics and political economy at the Auckland University of Technology Faculty of Business and Law in New Zealand. In 2013, she relocated to Melbourne, where she taught economics at RMIT University, Monash College and the University of Melbourne, and co-taught a master’s subject in management at Monash University. In 2020, she enrolled in Your Editing Career Launched, and after graduation, she was hired by Capstone Editing. Having dedicated considerable time and energy to her professional development, Dr Hayes was recently promoted to the position of Senior Copywriter.

Dr Hayes’s research interests are in social and economic inequality, democracy, the politics of economic and social policymaking and industrial innovation. She has a keen interest in the impact of intellectual property rights on the interests of employees and indigenous communities. Currently, she is engaged in elements of the policy reform process resulting from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.

As a long-time university teacher and researcher, Dr Hayes has considerable experience helping people to clarify their intended meaning as an editor and as an author and co-author. She particularly loves the challenge of diplomatically but clearly (occasionally even firmly) communicating complex and sometimes controversial ideas through tasks such as writing policy documents. She sees every writing task, even a note to her family, as a chance to communicate with clarity and style.