Dr Mary Crock (Faculty of Law)
Dr Mary Crock is a legal academic whose research has landed her in the middle of one of the most contentious areas of public debate in Australia: the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers who come into the country without authorisation. Her current interests relate to the protection of child asylum seekers who have been separated from their families through people trafficking and/or smuggling operations, an increasingly global phenomenon from which Australia has not been immune. In particular she is examining the degree to which the United Nations Refugee Convention succeeds in working for children seeking asylum in their own right.
Dr Crock has recently begun an international research project on separated and unaccompanied children with Professor Jacqueline Bhabha at Harvard University. The aim of the research is to create awareness of how children travelling alone are treated in three countries (the UK, the US and Australia); to look critically at the relevant laws, polices and practices; and to formulate proposals for changes based on what the study finds to be 'best practice' approaches to a complex problem. Talks and interviews will be held with young asylum seekers in each country, with government officials, judges, advocates, social workers and others. The research is or has been funded by the Australian Research Council, the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago USA and by the Myer Foundation in Melbourne.
Dr Crock came to Sydney University in 1995 after completing her PhD in migration and refugee law. Her specific research interests range from studies of the courts and judicial review, to the workings of the specialist migration tribunals. She has written on specific aspects of migration law and their interface with other areas of laws or disciplines, writing both for specialists in her field and for the general public. In addition to her work on children seeking asylum alone, she is also engaged in a project examining how migrants have shaped public law in Australia. Her partner in this ARC funded work is Associate Professor Helen Irving, one of Australia's foremost Constitutional historians.
Dr Mary's interest in migration and refugee law reflects her past involvement in direct advocacy work. She helped to establish and run the Victorian Immigration Advice and Rights Centre Inc in Melbourne, now known as the Refugee and Immigration Law Centre (Vic). She has worked with Australian Senators on Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program, and with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
