Record number of students selected for human rights fellowships

The Australian Human Rights Institute has selected a record 24 Global Student Fellows to join a leading international development or human rights organisation in Australia or overseas for a six-week paid fellowship.

The program, open to all UNSW students, had more than 200 applicants from every faculty in 2025. Thanks to philanthropic donations and funding partnerships with UNSW faculties and institutes, the program was able to provide the highest-ever number of fellowships in the 2025-26 round.

A record 12 host organisations will take on students this year, including ActionAid (Vanuatu), the Australian Human Rights Commission (Australia), Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation (Vietnam), CARE Australia (Australia), Engineers Without Borders (Australia, Cambodia, Timor-Leste & Vanuatu), the Human Rights Law Centre (Australia), Human Rights Watch (Australia), the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (Indonesia), International Organization for Migration/IOM UN Migration (Thailand), Jubilee Australia (Australia), the Justice and Equity Centre (Australia), and the World Food Programme (Sri Lanka). 

Students who've completed the program have gone on to work in policy, advocacy and research in areas across refugee rights, environmental justice, law reform and business and human rights, including positions at the UN Mission in Kosovo and the World Bank in New York City.

"The fellowship was instrumental in my successful recruitment to the World Bank's Young Professionals Program," said 2023 Global Student Fellow Alina Malyk. 

"I was selected to join the Social Development global unit, and my role will be focusing on integrating human rights principles within the World Bank's operations. I have no doubt that the fellowship gave me a distinctive edge, and I am deeply grateful for this opportunity that opened doors to this exciting chapter of my career.”​

You can find out more about the program here and donate to provide support for the program in 2026 here.

The 2025-26 Global Student Fellows are: