Kelsey was a Senior Analyst with ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre until May 2021. 

She has worked in journalism, writing and research since 2005, with a research focus on China, digital authoritarianism and foreign interference. She was a Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute from 2018-19 where she worked on a range of projects including the Lowy Poll, wrote on China-Australia relations, and created and hosted the Institute’s Rules Based Audio podcast.

A longtime journalist, Kelsey reported on foreign interference, China-Australia relations, education and politics for The Sydney Morning Herald, where she was also a senior editor of the Saturday News Review section. She was the project lead for the Walkley-nominated SMH multimedia project ‘Shirtfronted: The Story of the Abbott Government’. Her writing and reporting has also appeared in Guardian Australia, The Diplomat, SBS News, the Lowy Interpreter and Rolling Stone. 

She has a Masters degree in International Relations from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Sydney.