Human rights reform in Australia - ARC Industry Fellowship

In the first year of this project, Professor Maguire welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with several work units of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). These included the Human Rights and Strategy team, the Workplace and Community Education team, the Child Rights Team, the Chief Executive and the Strategic Communications team. Professor Maguire also engaged extensively with civil society stakeholders, including the NGO Coalition, Human Rights Law Centre and Australian Lawyers for Human Rights.

These collaborations afforded excellent research and engagement opportunities, including involvement with the AHRC’s inaugural National Human Rights Assessment and Report Card initiative, contribution to the development of the AHRC’s first Human Rights Education Strategy, and participation in United Nations human rights monitoring processes. The AHRC contributed extensively to the 2025 Centre for Law and Social Justice Youth Forum.

Several students and research staff contributed to the project in its first year, including:

• PhD candidate Virginia Newell, whose project examines a proposed participation duty and how it might be actualised in Australian human rights law
• Research assistant Georgia Smith, who contributed to human rights education research, including in the complex area of social norms theory
• UON student Sam Jenkins, whose work included research and writing on human rights measurement in comparative perspective
• UON student Ryan Vowles, who contributed to research in preparation for Australia’s 4th cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the AHRC’s 40th anniversary celebrations
• UON students Eleora Tawake and Ellena Vozzo, who worked together to explore the influence of NGO advocacy on Australia’s 4th cycle UPR.

Professor Maguire travelled extensively in Year 1 for research and international engagement events, including:

• Adjudicator and keynote speaker, AICHR Youth Human Rights Debate, convened by the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (September 2025)
• Panel chair, UPR briefing for foreign missions, co-hosted by the AHRC and NGO Coalition, Canberra (October 2025)
• AHRC delegation member, UPR pre-sessions and advocacy meetings, UN Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland (November 2025)
• Visiting fellow, Queen’s University Belfast School of Law, Ireland (December 2025-January 2026)
• AHRC delegation member to the periodic review of Australia by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, UN Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland (February 2026)
• Convenor, research roundtables on human rights measurement – UN Headquarters Geneva (co-hosted by OHCHR Asia Pacific Section), Queen’s University Belfast (co-hosted by the QUB Centre for Human Rights) and Australia House London (co-hosted by the Australian High Commission) (February 2026)
• Guest presenter, masterclass for Lao Australia Awards Fellows, Australian Human Rights Commission, Sydney (February 2026).

These opportunities enabled Professor Maguire to establish and strengthen collaborations with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, four other National Human Rights Institutions (Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland), the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and several human rights NGOs, including the Geneva-based UPR-Info.

Research conducted in Year 1 will be shared in forthcoming academic publications, including invited chapters in edited collections marking the 20th anniversary of the UN Human Rights Council.