10 September 2008:
Lunchtime Lecture: Beyond Beijing: Hopes and Fears on the Roof of the World
Dr Simon Bradshaw, Campaign Coordinator for the Australia Tibet Council gave an insightful presentation on the siatuation in Tibet post the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Dr Bradshaw offered insights in the political nature of the issues surrounding Tibet and some thoughts on the near future for this region of the world.
13 August 2008:
Lunchtime Lecture: Working with an NGO from the South: Experiences from India
Gudren Dewey spent 2007 working for a pan-Commonwealth NGO based in Delhi, India. Gudrun talked about the day-to-day life working in a small international NGO mandated to advocate for the prevention of human rights abuses. She reflect on the highlights and challenges she faced in her time at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). Gudrun now works with the human rights law team at the Victorian Government Solicitor's Office.
6 May 2008: Lunchtime Lecture: Reflections on the Commission on the Status of Women
Susan Brennan, President of the World YWCA discussed her recent visit to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The World YWCA is a global movement of 25 million women and girls working for justice, peace, health, human dignity, freedom and the environment in 125 countries. Susan has organised human rights hearings on peace with justice, violence against women, economic development, and HIV/AIDS at the YWCA International Women's Summit in 2003. She has served on the boards of the International Women's Development Agency, Repreive Australia and the Women's Rights Action Network of Australia. A graduate of Melbourne University Law School and a former Jessup mooter, Susan currently also practices as a barrister.
2 April 2008 Hina Jilani: The current situation in Pakistan
The Human Rights Forum International Visitor for 2008, Ms Hina Jilani delivered an informal lunctime lecture focusing on the current situation in Pakistan with particular reference to women's rights.
12 March 2008: Lunchtime Lecture: Torture Doesn't Happen In Australia Does It? Views from the UN Committee Against Torture
Ben Schokman from the Human Rights Law Resource Centre discussed his recent experience appearing before the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva. In May the committee will consider how well the Australian Government is complying with its obligations under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Last year, lawyers from the Human Rights Law Resource Centre travelled to Geneva to provide written and oral submissions to the Committee. Ben Schokman spoke about how issues of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment relate to law, policy and practice in Australia, and relayed stories from Geneva and his experience before the UN Committee against Torture.
9 October 2007: Lunctime Lecture: Human Rights Careers in the Field
Tom Bamforth, Lia Kent and Tim Rogan discussed pursuing a career in the field of human rights.
Tom Bamforth
Tom's academic background is in development studies and modern history. He has subsequently worked for the International Organisation for Migration and the Norwegian Refugee Council in disaster relief and protection in Pakistan and Sudan.
Lia Kent
Lia completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Public and International Law at the University of Melbourne. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Departments of Criminology and Law. She has worked for a number of human rights organisations, and from 2000-2002 she worked in East Timor, first with Oxfam International and then as a Human Rights Officer with the Human Rights Unit of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).
Tim Rogan
After graduating in 2006 from a Bachelor of Media and Communications and Bachelor of Law, Tim completed internships with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C. and with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He recently commenced articles with Minter Ellison Lawyers.
4 September 2007: Lunchtime Lecture: Campaigning for Human Rights at the UN
Caroline Lambert discussed her experiences in campaigning on Human Rights issues at the United Nations on behalf of NGOS. Caroline is the Acting Executive Director for the YWCA Australia. She has represented a number of non-governmental organisations in UN negotiations, including Amnesty International and the NGO Coalition for the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In January 2006 she was the delegation leader for the Australian NGO Shadow Report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
7 August 2007: Lunchtime Lecture: Asylum Seeker Project
Grant Mitchell from the Asylum Seeker Project at Hotham Mission discussed his experience working with asylum seekers in both Australia and Sweden. This comparative perspective gave the audience an insight into the considerable failings of the Australian approach to asylum seekers. If you are interested in volunteering with the Hotham Mission or making a donation, please see this website: http://asp.hothammission.org.au/index.cgi?tid=6
1 May 2007 Lunchtime Lecture: 'Human Rights in Diamonds' Rich Botswana'
University of Melbourne Honorary Fellow Kenneth Good discussed the human rights issues of the African nation.
Kenneth Good has taught and carried out research in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and in Papua New Guinea and Fiji, focusing on capitalist development, the state, and democratisation. He was Professor of Political Studies at the University of Botswana for 15 years where, in February 2005, he was declared a Prohibited Immigrant and expelled on 31 May. His Africa-wide appeal is on-going before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. He is currently an honorary fellow at the University of Melbourne, a Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and a lecturer at RMIT.
Monday April 2 2007:
Lunchtime Lecture: "The Road from Relief to Recovery and the Pakistan Earthquake"
Andrew MacLeod, Senior UN Advisor to the Government of Pakistan discussed the United Nations response in the aftermath of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. Andrew has worked for the International Red Cross in Yugoslavia and Rwanda and has also worked for the UNHCR in Geneva.
Tuesday March 6 2007:
Lunchtime Lecture: "Can international human rights complaints actually help people in trouble? Working on a UN Human Rights Complaint in Australia."
Peter Henley, Senior Associate Malleson Stephen Jaques and Melbourne coordinator of the firm's Human Rights Law Group, discussed the UN complaints procedure. Peter has been working on a number of individual complaints before the UN Human Rights Committee on a pro bono basis.
Tuesday October 3 2006 Lunchtime lecture: "Industrial Relations Law and Human Rights"
Dr Sean Cooney (Law) assessed how the new industrial relations laws measure up against Australia's international human rights obligations.
Tuesday September 5 2006
Lunchtime lecture: "Will the Victorian Charter of Human Rights Make a Real Difference to Victorians?"
Dr Carolyn Evans (Law) discussed the merits of the recently adopted Victorian Charter of Human Rights in relation to everyday Victorians.
Tuesday August 1 2006 Lunchtime lecture: "Human Rights in West Papua"
Associate Professor Richard Chauvel (Victoria University) discussed the Human Rights situation in West Papua.
top of page
