The team at the New South Wales HIV/AIDS Legal Centre are among the nominees for the 2022 Human Rights Awards.
The organisation is a not-for-profit, specialist community legal centre, and the only one of its kind in Australia. They provide free and comprehensive legal assistance to people HIV or Hepatitis related matters.
The team have been nominated of the Law Award, alongside Scientia Professor Jane McAdam – who has an impressive career working with refugees, the Women’s Legal Service’s First Nations team, and Hugh de Kretser, CEO of the Yoorrook Justice Commission.
The law award is one of four sections of the scheme, alongside the prestigious Human Rights Medal, the Youth Award and the Community Award.
In the running for the Human Rights Medal is Renee Dixon, who is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University. In their PhD research, Dixon is building the first in the world queer digital archive of oral histories about LGBTIQ forced displacement. She is the founder of Forcibly Displaced People Network.
Also nominated for the Human Rights Medal is Latoya Aroha Rule who is a Takatāpui (Queer), First Nations person residing on Gadigal Land, Sydney. They are a Research Associate & PhD Candidate at Jumbunna Institute, UTS. They played an integral role in launching the National Ban Spit Hoods Coalition in 2022 and will soon launch the podcast ‘Blak Space’ that reckons with state violence.
The other nominees are Dr Cassandra Cole – CEO of Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and Co-Director of the ACOSS and UNSW Sydney Poverty and Inequality Partnership.
Dr Dinesh Palipana – who was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland, and the first visiting quadriplegic medical student at Harvard. Dinesh is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, senior lecturer and researcher. He is a co-founder of Doctors with Disabilities Australia and advocated for disability rights through COVID-19.
The final nomination is shared by Mahboba Rawi and Nawid Cina. Following personal tragedy, Mahboba dedicated her life to helping others through Mahboba’s Promise. Together with her son, Nawid, they have worked tirelessly to look after Afghanistan’s vulnerable orphans, establish schools, fund health care services, and create vocational programs to enable the vulnerable to be self-sufficient.
See all the finalists at the Australian Human Rights Commission. The winner will be announced on Friday 9th December.
OIP Staff
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