Melanie Nivison Oppenheimer,FASSA (born 9 November 1957) is an Australian historian, who specialises in the history of volunteering, and a former actress.

Oppenheimer was born inSydney, New South Wales, and studied for aBachelor of Arts degree at theUniversity of New England (UNE). When UNE opened a drama department, she "fell in love with acting" and went on to enrol at theWebber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London before starting a career as an actress on Australian television. She played Sarah Carson, the daughter of lead character Jennifer Carson (played byLorraine Bayly), on the television seriesCarson's Law from 1984 to 1986.^[1]

Oppenheimer returned to UNE to complete aMaster of Letters, and then aDoctor of Philosophy atMacquarie University. She worked as a research assistant in the history department of theUniversity of Sydney, then held associate professor positions at theUniversity of Western Sydney and the University of New England.^[2]

TheAustralian Red Cross commissioned Oppenheimer to write an official history of the organisation in 2010, its centennial year. The book,The Power of Humanity: 100 Years of Australian Red Cross, was published byHarperCollins and launched by the Governor-General of Australia,Sir Peter Cosgrove, in August 2014.^[3] She has written several biographical articles for theAustralian Dictionary of Biography.^[4]

On 1 July 2013, Oppenheimer took up a professorship as Chair of History atFlinders University in South Australia.^[5] She was elected a Fellow of theAcademy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA) in 2017.^[6]

• Oppenheimer, Melanie Nivison (1999).Red Cross VAs: A history of the VAD movement in New South Wales. Walcha, N.S.W.: Ohio Productions.ISBN 0-9585751-1-8.
• Oppenheimer, Melanie (2002).All Work No Pay: Australian civilian volunteers in war. Walcha, N.S.W.: Ohio Productions.ISBN 0-9585751-5-0.
• Oppenheimer, Melanie (2006).Oceans of Love: Narrelle, an Australian nurse in World War I. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Sydney, NSW: ABC Books.ISBN 978-0-7333-1710-1.
• Oppenheimer, Melanie (2008).Volunteering: Why we can't survive without it. Sydney: UNSW Press.ISBN 978-1-74223-070-2.
• Oppenheimer, Melanie (2008).Australian Women and War. Canberra, Australia: Department of Veteran's Affairs.ISBN 978-1-877007-28-6.
• Oppenheimer, Melanie; Deakin, Nicholas, eds. (2011).Beveridge and Voluntary Action in Britain and the Wider British World. Manchester: Manchester University Press.ISBN 978-0-7190-8381-5.
• Scates, Bruce; Oppenheimer, Melanie (2016).The Last Battle: Soldier settlement in Australia, 1916–1939. Australia: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-1-316-87029-7.
• Oppenheimer, Melanie; Anderson, Margaret; Paul, Mandy, eds. (2017).South Australia on the Eve of War. Mile End, South Australia: Wakefield Press.ISBN 978-1-74305-474-1.

• Girls' Own War Stories (2010) ABC-TV documentary

• Melanie Oppenheimer atIMDb