The Australian Journal of Human Rights (AJHR) has awarded the 2022 Andrea Durbach Prize to Dr Sean Mulcahy and Associate Professor Kate Seear from La Trobe University for their article, ‘On tables, doors and listening spaces: parliamentary human rights scrutiny processes and engagement of others’.
The article provides a compelling examination of the actors involved in, and the actors denied access to, parliamentary human rights scrutiny processes in Australia.
"This is an important but under-researched issue, one that has implications for the way in which scrutiny processes can offer protection against rights limitations," said AJHR co-Editor-in-Chief and ex officio president of the jury for the Andrea Durbach Prize, Claire Higgins.
"We commend the authors’ creativity, the sophistication of their analysis, and their advocacy for a more thorough and transparent consideration of human rights in the legislative process."
The Andrea Durbach Award for Human Rights Scholarship was established by the Australian Journal of Human Rights in 2017. The prize is named in honour of Emeritus Professor Andrea Durbach in recognition of her significant service to human rights.
The prize is awarded annually to an author whose work has been published in the Australian Journal of Human Rights, and whose article reflects the values that have long resonated in Andrea’s career and scholarship. These include the courage to push the boundaries of human rights debates; the creativity to examine issues that cut across different academic disciplines and a desire to press for human rights accountability to ensure that the voices that are not always heard can be magnified.
You can read the winning article here.