Overview
Dr Philippa Duell-Piening is a socio-legal researcher specialising in the human rights of people who are refugees with disability. She recently published a monograph, Refugee Displacement, Disability and Human Rights: The Production, Processing and Power of Data. Before transitioning to academia, Philippa coordinated the Victorian Refugee Health Network at the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, where she led initiatives in health sector development and government engagement to reduce health inequalities and improve access to healthcare services for people who are refugees. Earlier in her career, she worked as an occupational therapist and case manager in mental health services in Australia and the UK. Philippa has also worked in forced migration contexts, including Timor-Leste in 2002 and the Thai-Myanmar border in 2012.
Philippa holds a PhD from Melbourne Law School, a Master’s in Community and International Development, and a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy. Drawing on her interdisciplinary expertise across human rights law, community development, and health, Philippa develops innovative socio-legal research methods that challenge traditional power dynamics in research, working collaboratively with communities to better understand the drivers of marginalisation and the levers for change.