Advancing human rights and responding to displacement

We combine knowledge, advocacy and collaboration to strengthen legal frameworks for human rights and migration.

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The global movement of people driven by war, persecution, disaster and increasingly human-induced climate change continues to accelerate in the 21st century.

Australia’s response to refugees seeking protection remains highly contested within the legal system and has been the subject of ongoing international criticism. At the same time, the rights of migrants within Australia, particularly in employment, housing and access to essential services, demand sustained attention and reform.

In our Law & Justice 2030 strategy, we recognise the advancement of human rights and the response to displacement as central challenges requiring rigorous legal scholarship, community engagement and policy leadership.

Our leadership

UNSW Law & Justice is proud to host the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute, a pan-university institute established to advance interdisciplinary research, education and advocacy on pressing human rights issues.

This partnership supports work across areas including gender justice, business and human rights, health equity and modern slavery. Joint initiatives include seed funding for research, advocacy addressing sexual harassment in universities, and work examining climate change as a humanitarian and human rights challenge.

Together, this collaboration strengthens rights-based approaches to law reform at national and international levels and supports efforts for accountability for human rights violations both domestically and internationally.

The Institute’s Global Student Fellowship program provides UNSW students the opportunity to undertake a paid placement with a leading international development or human rights organisation in Australia or the Asia–Pacific region.

Learn more: Australian Human Rights Institute
Through the internationally renowned Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice is a global leader in research, law reform and policy development on forced migration.

The Centre’s work informs governments, international organisations and civil society on how to uphold refugee rights while navigating complex legal, political and humanitarian contexts. Its research and advocacy contribute to the development of fairer and more effective protection systems for displaced people worldwide.

Learn more: Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law
As climate change increasingly drives displacement across borders, UNSW Law & Justice is at the forefront of legal innovation in this emerging field.

The Kaldor Centre’s Climate Mobility Hub develops legal and policy solutions to protect people forced to move due to climate-related disasters and environmental change. This work seeks to ensure that international legal frameworks respond to climate mobility in ways that are equitable, rights-based and future-focused.

Learn more: Climate Mobility Hub
Our commitment to human rights extends beyond theory and research.

Through clinical legal education and placements with our affiliated centres, students work directly with asylum seekers, refugees and displaced communities. These experiences provide hands-on engagement with access to justice challenges while reinforcing strong ethical commitments grounded in international human rights law.

These programs allow students to contribute meaningfully to real-world legal support while building professional skills and social responsibility.

Our affiliated centres address major social challenges and public interest concerns. As independent organisations housed at UNSW Law & Justice, they work closely with UNSW staff and students in tackling social justice issues:

Australian Pro Bono Centre
Diplomacy Training Program
Grata Fund
Migrant Justice Institute
Refugee Advice & Casework Service
Youth Law Australia
UNSW Law & Justice’s Global Law Cluster comprises over 30 academics and current PhD students. Its members work on theories and practice of international law as a system, and across a range of areas, including:

human rights law
international criminal law
international cultural heritage law
international economic and business law
international environmental law
law of the sea
private international law
refugee law.

In addition to being internationally recognised scholars in their respective fields, its members:

advise governments, both in Australia and overseas
advocate for reform and development of international law globally and in regional settings
advocate for reform of how international law is implemented at the national level
consult for international agencies and NGOs
are litigation practitioners before international courts and tribunals
author and contribute to authoritative monographs, reference works and commentaries
regularly participate in public debate in the media and engage with relevant stakeholders on contemporary international law issues.

Learn more: Global Law Cluster