Victoria Cooper is a researcher, political analyst and freelance journalist based in Naarm, Melbourne.

Victoria has spent years in think tanks and academia researching social and political trends in the United States and Australia, and analysing how these trends implicate both countries’ foreign policy.

Since 2022, Victoria has provided regular insights on US politics and elections for Australian radio and news outlets, and holds bylines in several mastheads including the Australian Financial Review, The Conversation and The Sydney Morning Herald. Victoria was one of Australia’s youngest and most regular commentators on US politics and the 2024 presidential election. She was identified as a Young Woman to Watch in International Affairs in 2024.

Recently, Victoria worked in research and communications strategy at the United States Studies Centre, a think tank at the University of Sydney. There, she led research projects on democratic resilience, political trends and public opinion polling, and Australian foreign policy. Her research has briefed senior government officials and thought leaders across Australia, the United States and Japan. In 2023, Victoria was a Quad Rising Think Tank Opinion Leader and provided her insights on the future of cooperation between Quad countries in Washington DC and Tokyo, Japan.

Alongside her role as an expert, as Research Editor, Victoria spearheaded the Centre’s research communication strategy, editorial process and media liaison. She also produced and co-hosted the USSC Briefing Room podcast and authored the 46th, a weekly newsletter with original analysis of political developments under the Biden administration.

As an advanced research communicator, Victoria is contracted as editorial consultant at the Development Intelligence Lab, and was the research and editorial assistant on Trump’s Australia: How Trumpism changed Australia and the shocking consequences for us in a second term (Allen & Unwin, 2023), which was long-listed for the Australian Political Book of the Year award in 2023.

As a casual academic, Victoria has been an undergraduate tutor, academic marker and guest lecturer within the American Studies program at the University of Sydney, and has provided lectures for students at the University of New South Wales and La Trobe University. She is currently a research assistant at the UNSW Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law in their Evacuations Hub which is funded by a prestigious Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship.