PhD graduate Peter Mitchell has negotiated the research minefield and now he's stepping carefully through the legal process for a potentially explosive memoir about his career as an immigration officer.

Peter has 3 publishers interested in his book which includes his years as manager of the controversial Villawood Detention Centre, synonymous with mass escapes and allegations of inhumane practices.

Peter Mitchell - a novel approach to a PhD

"We were accused of doing evil things but, hand on my heart, it was not as reported in the media," he said.

"Part of my reason for writing a book was to present a fuller picture... to put out in the public domain about what really went on behind the scenes."

Peter said he was confident of a publishing breakthrough later this year, turning the narrative extracts of his PhD thesis into a commercial venture.

He explained that the PhD in creative writing included the memoir as well as a theoretical reflection on the challenges and ethics of writing memoirs, so he is grateful that supervisor* Associate Professor Donna Brien, Head of the School of Creative and Performing Arts, guided him well.

"You can tell a bunch of funny stories about an exotic job but this is not the same thing as studying it and putting it in an academic perspective. I looked at why so few people write administrative memoirs due to legal issues about the official secrets act," he said.

* Dr Mitchell began working on this PhD project at the University of New England, with an APA scholarship. He was able to transfer his candidature (and scholarship) to CQUniversity when Dr Brien relocated to the Queensland institution.