Naomi McKeown

‘There is a tendency to think that migration law is just about filling out forms.  This perception is so misplaced. Migration law is about giving someone the help they need to visit Australia or call Australia home.’

After 20 years in the corporate world, Naomi McKeown took a break to be with her young family and decide on her next career move.

She says she could have chosen any post graduate study but when she explored her commitments, interests and options, the Graduate Diploma of Migration Law and Practice seemed the best fit:

‘I realised that practising migration law was not just something that would take advantage of the skills I already had and make a positive impact. It also seemed an achievable way to get a law education without the time commitment and what I saw as the ‘hard slog’ of a traditional law degree.’

Migration Law is a complex area and the UTS course covers an immense amount of material. Naomi says both the structure and delivery of the course was excellent and the fact that it is delivered online has an added benefit.

‘Because it is run as a distance course, students have to be self-motivated, organised and capable of building relationships with people remotely. These are also the critical skills needed to be an effective Migration Agent.’

Naomi is now a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 2015945) and working at Be Here Australia. Eventually she would like to have her own business and work independently, as well as use her skills to take on humanitarian work.

And she discovered something else about herself during her MLP studies.

‘As I came to the end of the Graduate Diploma, I realised that the ‘hard slog’ of a traditional law degree was actually exactly what I wanted to do!’ 

Naomi is now completing the UTS Juris Doctor.

More about studying Migration Law at UTS