Pioneering student program creates pathways to careers in human rights

The Global Student Fellowship Program gives UNSW students first-hand experience.

Historically, a reliance on voluntary and unpaid roles has often meant many young people face barriers when pursuing careers in human rights. That’s why in 2021, the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute made it a goal to offer transformative educational experiences to students.

Through the Institute’s Global Student Fellowship Program, participants have the opportunity to build a career pathway and forge connections at a leading international development or human rights organisation in Australia or overseas, for six weeks. The Program enables UNSW students from any faculty to undertake a paid fellowship with a leading international development or human rights-based organisation. 

The Institute provides $6500 to each student selected, to support their six-week fellowship. The experience allows students to experience first-hand how leading rights-based and international development organisations operate. Students are actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the organisation, with a focus on research and/or policy development. 

The program returns in 2024

The pioneering program has returned in 2024, boasting double the host organisations taking on future human rights defenders. They include Amnesty International, the Australian Human Rights Commission, Engineers Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative, Jubilee Australia, the Justice and Equity Centre, Blue Dragon in Vietnam and UN Migration in Thailand.

Past Institute Fellows have gone on to work in policy, advocacy and research, in areas across refugee rights, environmental justice, law reform, business and human rights.

"I’m starting as a Judicial Affairs Officer at the United Nations Mission in Kosovo,” said 2023 Fellow, Madeline Whittaker. “The fellowship helped prepare me for this role by opening my mind to new areas of human rights law and learning from others in the field."

Samuel Pryde, a 2021 Global Student Fellow, said the opportunity offered him a lifeline. “It really kept the initial optimism that I brought into university about working in human rights alive. It was the best thing I did in my university career.”

Applications for 2024/25 fellowships close on Sunday 1 September 2024. 

Find out more about the program and past fellows on the Australian Human Rights Institute website.