Words count in migration law
Dr Laura Smith-Khan is bringing new perspectives to the legal understanding of migrants’ experiences and busting myths about asylum seekers in the process. Now she’s taken out Australia’s top humanities award.
Dr Laura Smith-Khan (left) with fellow UTS Law academic Dr Alexandra Grey. Photo Ana Sofia Bruzon/Language on the Move.
Navigating complex paperwork then undergoing an adversarial interview process and possibly ending up in court, all in your second language while under great personal stress. The experience of a refugee applying for asylum in Australia is challenging in a way few can truly understand.
Dr Laura Smith-Khan has spent the past few years taking a more nuanced look at the way language and the law intersect in immigration processing in Australia.
A UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Law, she has been awarded the 2022 Max Crawford Medal for her research, the first time a UTS academic has taken out the prestigious award.
“I’ve been exploring how minority groups experience legal processes, with a particular focus on refugees and other migrants, and how language can impact on their visa outcomes,” she says.
“So much of an asylum seeker’s credibility is built upon how they communicate. But the institutional context and who they’re talking to can play a huge role in how their story is understood and credibility assessed.”
“Sociolinguistics can offer so many insights to legal research, education and practice, and bring positive change to what can often be a daunting and difficult system.”
Working with others in the Faculty of Law, Dr Smith-Khan has brought together a unique emerging research community around law and linguistics. She has also been communicating to a wider public through the Language on the Move blog focussed on language and social justice
Being this year’s recipient of the Max Crawford Medal is a huge honour. The humanities play a crucial role in bringing to light and addressing injustices in our society.
Dr Laura Smith-Khan
The latest phase of her research involves shining a light on some of the under-acknowledged actors in the migration process in Australia.
“While there’s been a lot of attention on the individual asylum seeker or migrant, migration agents and lawyers also play an important role in how an application is put together and considered,” Dr Smith-Khan says.
“Many agents are migrants themselves and so bring rich experience and skills to their work. I’m looking to explore their role and how they affect the application process.”
“One of the great things at UTS has been tying my work into the coursework for students in the Graduate Diploma of Migration Law and Practice who want to become migration agents. We’re feeding my sociolinguistic research into course design and have developed training materials for how to communicate with clients,” she says
“At the same time, I’ve been researching the students’ experiences, following their journeys from beginning to end, and out into migration practice.”
The Max Crawford Medal is Australia’s most prestigious award for achievement and promise in the humanities. It’s presented each year by the Australian Academy of Humanities.
“Being this year’s recipient of the Max Crawford Medal is a huge honour. The humanities play a crucial role in bringing to light and addressing injustices in our society. The medal provides valuable recognition of the contribution my research makes toward these important goals,” she said.
