Dr Akuch Kuol Anyieth has come a long way. Born in war-torn South Sudan, she and her family spent nine years in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya where they endured displacement, famine and violence before migrating to Australia in 2005. Arriving in Melbourne speaking no English, the family faced further challenges – including isolation, racism, and trauma from their time in the camp.
Almost 20 years later, things look remarkably different. Akuch has just graduated from her third degree from La Trobe University, a PhD, for which she received the Nancy Millis Award for theses of exceptional merit. She has been broadly acknowledged for her advocacy and community-building work – alongside her role as a family violence and trauma-informed educator. Her biography, Unknown: A Refugee’s Story, was published in 2022 and was shortlisted for the 2023 National Biography Award.
“Sometimes I look back and I just can't believe how far I have come and how much I have done, and how much I have learned,” says Akuch. “How much I am continuing to learn, how much I'm continuing to grow.”
Now a legal scholar and consultant, Akuch has over a decade of experience in the criminal and social justice space, as well as in academia, policy and advocacy. In early 2024 she was awarded the Young Achiever Award by La Trobe University for her services to the community, and her incredible dedication to bettering the justice system for all people in Australia.
An education can change the world
Akuch never went through an indecisive phase when it came to her education. Despite growing up in a refugee camp where her opportunities were limited, she was always a bright student who loved learning. Once she moved to Australia and completed English language school – her sights were set firmly on university.
“I've always had an interest in law and legal studies, and that could be because I come from a background that is so entrenched with injustices,” she says. “I think starting my Bachelor of Legal Studies was my own way of trying to remedy that.”
The first person in her family to attend university, and coming from a non-English speaking background, at first Akuch felt like she had to do triple the work to keep her marks up. But she was committed to completing her first degree.
“I was one of those annoying students who would just chase the tutor down to get clarification if I didn’t understand something in class,” she says. “But I had great lecturers that made me see my vision almost coming to pass. That gave me a huge drive to keep working hard and to keep chasing them down hallways!”
Now that she works as a researcher and academic at La Trobe, those same lecturers and tutors are her colleagues. Akuch credits this sense of community at La Trobe as what made her studies so fulfilling.
“I learn better when I'm around people that are like minded, people that see your weakness but want to work with you to improve it, not to judge you,” she says. “That's why I studied here, why I’m still studying here, and why I work here!”
An anti-violence advocate
The subject of Akuch’s recent PhD, and in fact much of her academic research, focuses on family violence. More specifically, she explores how trauma, masculinity and the law affects migrant communities – including her own South Sudanese community. This work connects strongly to her role as a public speaker and community advocate, where she champions more culturally specific responses to violence.
“I do a lot of speaking to ministers and informing policies – working with lawyers and people in the judicial system to make sure that they are working with the migrant and refugee community,” she says. “There's this belief that once you bring migrants to Australia and you settle them, the job is done. But we rarely address the trauma or mental health issues that come with the refugee experience.”
As a member of that community herself, there’s a lot that can be learned from her personal experiences. Combined with her academic study, Akuch has a unique insight into the work required to advocate for safer families and safer communities.
“I think my role as a migrant, South Sudanese, former-refugee woman in Australia adds another layer of advocacy, because it's not just about eliminating violence,” she says. “I think our understanding of violence, and the root causes of violence, is evolving. The more diverse Australia becomes, the more diverse those causes of violence become – because we all bring ourselves to Australia.”
A cultural response to justice
Alongside working with government and the private sector, much of the advocacy work that Akuch does is community facing. She co-founded the Respectful Brothers group with Brimbank City Council, to reduce social isolation of men from refugee and migrant backgrounds in the area. She also works with diaspora communities to better understand the Australian legal system and interpret it through a cultural lens.
“For example, when the Family Violence Act was amended to include dowry-related abuse – it was clear that certain communities felt targeted, as if part of their culture was being cancelled,” she says
Akuch worked with community organisations to re-write this part of the act in plain English and hold workshops. For the various communities who practice dowry, this process helped transform their understanding of the law. “It was so helpful for these families to understand that we don't want to cancel the practice of dowry because it's a huge part of their culture, but we need to be mindful of the consequences that come with it and how it can be abused and used as a tool of control in a marriage.”
“One woman who participated in these workshops actually took our information and replicated the same workshop within her community. And I thought that was really powerful. She took the initiative to share her knowledge and use it to help protect other people – and that’s the power of education.”
Ubuntu means togetherness
Across the many facets of Akuch’s career – from deep research to public speaking – there is a constant acknowledgement of the interconnectedness of human beings.
"Being an African – we have this philosophy called ‘ubuntu’. And ‘ubuntu’ means togetherness, it means being whole as a community, it means being interconnected. So we live as interconnected beings, and I think that is really entrenched in me.”
As her work continues to take her across Australia and overseas, she sees all the ways that make us similar, rather than different. This is especially reflected in her local community of advocates.
“Whether it's among advocates for the environment, in the LGBTQIA+ community, for youth, for the elimination of gender-based violence – I think there's a sense that we are all rooting for something better,” she says. “We are all asking for the goodness of the world, and working to make sure that the next generation is getting something better.”
Through education and knowledge sharing, through law and the justice system, and through policy and advocacy, Akuch is living proof that there is so much to be learned from sharing our lived experiences.
“I hope that the knowledge that I'm sharing, that someone is going to learn something from it and pass it on. That's the beautiful thing about education. I want to help produce knowledge that is going to impact someone's life – and to help make sure that we are all safe and that we live in a peaceful home and peaceful society.”
