With qualifications in history and human rights law and policy, Dr Higgins is a Senior Research Fellow at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW, and an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University. She previously served as Editor of the Australian Human Rights Institute’s Human Rights Defender magazine, and is currently undertaking research on safe visa pathways for refugees as part of her Australian Research Council ‘DECRA’ fellowship. Her first book is Asylum by Boat: Origins of Australia’s Refugee Policy (NewSouth, 2017). 

"The Australian Journal of Human Rights holds a distinguished position in scholarship on human rights development in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. I am delighted to join its outstanding team of editors, and to uphold the Journal’s high standards and reputation as the new Editor-in-Chief," Dr Higgins said.

Established in 1991, the Australian Journal of Human Rights aims to raise awareness of human rights issues by providing a forum for scholarship and discussion.

The Journal's Managing Editor Allison Henry warmly welcomed Dr Higgins on board and thanked outgoing Editor-in-Chief Professor Lucas Lixinski for his leadership and contribution to the Journal over recent years. 

"2021 was a bumper year for the Journal with more submissions and a wider readership than ever before. The team are looking forward to building on that progress in 2022," Ms Henry said.

The Australian Journal of Human Rights welcomes submissions on a rolling basis. Further information is available here.


UNSW