Local lecturer takes out top award

A local law lecturer has won an international award for her thesis work.

Dr Kim Teh took out the inaugural Dr Ann Shorten Doctoral Thesis Award for best PhD thesis in the field of Education Law during the past two years.

Dr Teh, who teaches law at the University of Southern Queensland Fraser Coast campus in Hervey Bay, was presented with her prize at the annual Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association (ANZELA) conference in Melbourne on Friday (October 2). The conference attracts lawyers, academics, government officers and senior educators from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia.

Dr Teh’s winning thesis looked at how school principals are coping with emerging legal issues across many countries, and proposed a framework for understanding strategies to minimise legal risk.

Dr Teh said she was surprised to receive such a prestigious award, especially since there was a fair amount of high quality doctoral work being undertaken in the United States and Australia.
She said she was delighted that her work, which was started in Singapore and completed in Hervey Bay, was recognised by the top names in the field.

Dr Ann Shorten presented the citation and cheque to Dr Teh.

Dr Teh qualified as a barrister in London, and then practised in Singapore before completing her PhD at USQ in 2008. She received her scroll from USQ Chancellor Bobbie Brazil at the Fraser Coast graduation ceremony earlier this year.

Her work was supervised by Assoc Prof Peter Albion, from USQ, and Dr Sally Varnham, from University of Technology Sydney.