Hate and extremism are complex, evolving challenges. At the Tackling Hate Lab, we bridge the gap between research and real-world impact through cutting-edge, data-driven analysis.

• From Data to Policy – We harness computational and social science methods to uncover patterns of hate and extremism, ensuring our research informs policies that make a tangible difference.
• Shaping the Future of Research – We train the next generation of researchers, equipping them with interdisciplinary skills across social science, data science, and economics to tackle hate and extremism with innovative, evidence-based solutions.
• AI for Action – We leverage AI-assisted methodologies not just to study hate, but to intervene—developing smarter tools to detect, analyse, and counter harmful behaviours both online and offline.

At the Tackling Hate Lab, research is not just about understanding hate—it’s about finding solutions that work.

Impact oriented

We generate evidence-based insights to inform policies and interventions that effectively counter online and offline hate

Interdisciplinary and data driven

We integrate social science, psychology, economics, and data science methods with computational and machine learning technologies, applying them to large datasets to empirically study hate and extremism. 

Ethical and transparent

We uphold ethical principles of respect, benefit, and do no harm, ensuring our research does not contribute to harm. Our work is transparent, reliable, and methodologically rigorous to maintain the highest standards of scientific integrity.

Privacy

As we work with online data, we prioritise individual privacy and uphold fundamental freedoms, ensuring that our methods comply with ethical standards and data protection regulations.

Meet the team

A/Prof Matteo Vergani (Deakin University). Matteo is an internationally recognised researcher dedicated to advancing social justice by mitigating the impact of hatred and extremism. He leads cross-disciplinary research, integrating social science, psychology, and data science to develop innovative methodologies for addressing complex societal challenges. His work focuses on online and offline hate, informing evidence-based policies and industry practices. Matteo has secured and completed numerous large grants, collaborating with government agencies and civil society organisations. His research is driven by a commitment to understanding and tackling prejudice, discrimination, hatred, and extremist violence targeting people seen as different. Matteo’s publications can be found here.

A/Prof Kewen Liao (Deakin University). Kewen is an accomplished algorithms researcher with a PhD in Computer Science. His expertise spans data science, machine learning, and theoretical computer science, with a focus on algorithm design and analysis, clustering and graph mining, time series and streaming analytics, and image and text data analysis. He is a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Discovery Project and previously led a Defence Next Generation Technologies Fund Project. He also holds a US patent with Canon Inc. for a novel object-matching method in computer vision. Kewen is committed to cross-disciplinary research, leveraging data science and AI to drive significant societal and economic impact. He also holds key leadership and professional roles in leading national and international data science and AI conferences. Kewen’s publications can be found here.

Dr Andrea Giovannetti (Australian Catholic University). Dr. Giovannetti is assistant professor in economics at the Australian Catholic University and a member of the Violence Research Centre at the Institute of Criminology of Cambridge University, where he conducted his Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellowship. In his work, Andrea develops statistical models and applies high-power computational and modelling techniques to investigate the causes and measure the consequences of complex real-life problems, with a focus on the diffusion of behaviours across human networks. Andrea holds active operative and research collaborations with the largest police force of Europe, London Metropolitan Police, and several U.K. organizations, including Merseyside and Cambridgeshire police forces. Andrea’s publications can be found here.

Dan Goodhardt (Deakin University). Dan Goodhardt is a casual researcher at the Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University. He was the previous administrator of the South East Asian Network of Civil Society Organisations (SEAN-CSO) from 2018-2022. Mr Goodhardt previously worked as a community practitioner analysing antisemitic incidents and threats to the Victorian community. He has extensive experience in collecting reports of hate incidents and providing victim support at a community level. He has presented at many seminars regarding security and prejudice motivated incidents. He holds a Masters in Counter-Terrorism from Monash University.

Acknowledgements

The establishment of the Tackling Hate website was supported by the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety. The TH Lab acknowledges the support of the NSW Government, the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Department of Home Affairs.