Pastoral Research Office of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Bob Dixon is the recently-retired Foundation Director of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Pastoral Research Office. He has a PhD in sociology as well as degrees in science, theology and education. He is the author or co-author of numerous books, articles and reports including Building Stronger Parishes Project Report (2015) and Catholics who have stopped attending Mass (2007). He is an Honorary Professor at Australian Catholic University, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Divinity, and a Board member of the Christian Research Association. Bob is the convenor of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion’s Parish and Congregational Studies Research Group, and a member of an Australian Catholic University – Georgetown University study group on Asian-Pacific Catholicism and Globalisation. He is an expert on Australian Catholicism and is particularly interested in how research can equip the Church to negotiate contemporary challenges.