Rights Advocacy Project is a community of lawyers and activists working to advance human rights in Australia. We’re part of Liberty Victoria, one of Australia’s leading human rights organisations.
We work across a range of issues including equality, government accountability, refugee and asylum seeker rights and criminal justice reform. Find out about our recent work at our website and Instagram.
Our Program
Our program offers an introduction to all aspects of social change – from strategic advocacy to political and stakeholder engagement, campaigning, messaging and media strategy. Over 12-18 months, as part of the program, program advocates will have the opportunity to develop, research and deliver a law reform campaign. The project provides program advocates with the opportunity to be part of strategic law reform and impact-driven advocacy.
Our program encourages program advocates to:
- clearly identify the problem and the proposed solution;
- ensure their project idea is unique, and adds value;
- think strategically about how they might achieve change on their chosen social justice issue;
- develop key messages about the problem they want to solve;
- think creatively about how to communicate those messages to a particular target audience, through a variety of platforms; and
- ensure that they are inclusive of people with lived experience and affected communities of the issues they work on.
In the past, our program advocates have:
- Advocated for reform to Victoria Police’s stop and search powers.
- Called for reform to Victoria Police’s use of body-worn cameras to improve police accountability.
- Lobbied for menstrual leave in the workplace.
- Campaigned for the Australian government to implement a system for bridging visa applications which is fair and transparent to people seeking asylum.
- Been part of the campaign that successfully saw the Victorian Parliament vote to establish a spent convictions scheme.
- Advocated for fairer bail laws in Victoria which see a disproportionate amount of women and Indigenous people kept in remand unnecessarily.
- Lobbied State and Territory governments to reform the unpredictable, disparate and often conflicting access to essential services for refugees and people seeking asylum living in Australia.
- Presented at conferences in Tasmania and Queensland about the problems with prosecutorial discretion in Victoria’s diversion scheme.
- Called on the Victorian Mental Health Minister to make mixed mental health wards safer for women and non-binary folk.
- Sought to curtail the Immigration Minister’s broad, discretionary God-like powers.
- Developed a website which allowed commuters to understand their rights when faced with $75 on-the-spot fines, which resulted in on the spot fines being abolished.
Read more about our work on First Nations justice, criminal justice reform, refugee rights and equality and government accountability.
Through our program, we also hope to build a community that will extend beyond the project, a community that continues to reimagine legal practice and our role as lawyers and activists and uses the law as a tool for social change.
Our Steering Committee
Our program is facilitated by a dedicated Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is in charge of recruitment, liaising with Liberty Victoria, monitoring team progress, and assisting with projects as needed.
Workshops and training sessions are taught by human rights leaders and thinkers with diverse expertise and skill sets in strategic advocacy and law reform.
Meet our current steering committee:
- Kiara Wagner – Chair
- Shauna Stanley – Deputy Chair
- Shenali De Silva – General Committee Member
- Rochelle Francis – Project Coordinator
- Denham Sadler – Project Coordinator
- Arabella Close – Project Coordinator
- Jasmine Pilbrow – Project Coordinator
- Kali Wischmann – Project Coordinator
- Gary Hansell – Project Coordinator
Volunteer Testimonials
“Taking part in the Rights Advocacy Project has been more than just writing a law reform report. It has meant building a network and being a part of a community. It offers you the chance to connect with people in the community who care about the same issues as you and work collaboratively together inspire change on these matters. I could not recommend it more for people wanting to work in the human rights, social justice and advocacy space, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat!”
– Isabella Farrell-Hallegraeff, Refugee Team Volunteer
“It’s the best! I’ve made great friendships and professional connections and produced meaningful work at the end of it all. It gave a lot of meaning and purpose to my law degree and I’ve come out of it with practical research and advocacy experience.”
– Sioné Pemberton, Refugee Team Volunteer
Doing the RAP program changed the trajectory of my legal career. It connected me with a network of people who care deeply about making laws fairer for everyone. It taught me how to advocate and afforded me the opportunity to make real change.
– Emma Buckley Lennox, Equality and Government Accountability Team Volunteer