Stephen Tomsen is a Professor of Criminology based in NSW with decades of experience and publishing crime-related issues including violence and homicide.

From the early 1990s, he pioneered Australian university research into hate crimes and anti-gay violence with presentations at national and international sociology and criminology conferences, and leading studies including a Criminology Research Council project on anti-gay killings (1994/5), and an Australian Research Council study of violence and safety at queer public events (2003-2005). Key findings from these projects were published as Hatred, Murder and Male Honour (AIC, 2002) and Violence, Prejudice and Sexuality (Routledge, 2009).