His MA thesis was on Saltbush, sampling strategy and settlement pattern: A systematic archaeological survey of Plumbago Station Historic Reserve, South Australia.
[3] He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of New England (Armidale, NSW) in 1988 with his PhD thesis "The Pattern and Timing of Prehistoric Settlement in Central Australia".
[4] Smith was instrumental in the development of Central Australian archaeological research, especially establishing the antiquity of Aboriginal presence in the inland desert 35,000 years ago.
[5] His career has included:[citation needed] In 1996 Smith was appointed head of the People and Environment section at NMA, and later became Director of Research and Development.
During his time there, he established the Research Centre as well as the scholarly journal reCollections, and in 2004 developed Extremes: Survival in the Great Deserts of the Southern Hemisphere exhibition.