Bassina Farbenblum
Co-Executive Director
Associate Professor at UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice
Bassina is an international lawyer, academic, and global expert on migrants’ rights. She is the founding Co-Executive Director of Migrant Justice Institute and an Associate Professor at UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice, where she was the founding Director of the UNSW Human Rights Clinic for 10 years. Bassina is a member of the Australian Government’s Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration Expert Sub-Committee. Bassina previously worked as an impact litigator at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Sydney, and the Australian Human Rights Commission, as well as a commercial litigator at WilmerHale (NY) and Minter Ellison (Sydney). Over the past decade Bassina has led numerous national and global research teams on migrant workers’ access to justice, governance of migrant recruitment, responsibilities of business, exploitation of international students, and technology for migrant empowerment. She frequently advises governments, service providers, unions, UN agencies and civil society organisations globally on the rights of temporary migrants. Bassina was awarded the Open Society Foundations International Migration Initiative Fellowship for her work on labour migration in Asia.
Laurie Berg
Co-Executive Director
Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney
Laurie is widely recognised as one of Australia’s leading legal researchers on migrant workers’ rights. She has conducted major international and national studies on migrant worker wage theft, exploitation and access to justice in Australia, and globally. Her book, Migrant Rights at Work: Law’s Precariousness at the Intersection of Immigration and Labour published by Routledge in 2016, was the first on migrant workers’ rights in Australia. Prior to her academic appointment, Laurie held posts at Human Rights First in New York, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington DC and the Australian Red Cross in Sydney. She is a recipient of the Lisa Gilad prize by the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration, and has been awarded numerous university and faculty prizes for research excellence and impact.
Caroline Hill
Operations Manager
Caroline joined the Migrant Justice Institute in October 2024 as Operations Manager. She is an experienced operations and program professional with experience in many industries across both the for-profit and for-purpose sectors. As the former Scholarship Program and Operations Manager at the Harding Miller Education Foundation, and with a background of working with both volunteers and disadvantaged students, Caroline is deeply committed to working with organisations who have a strong social justice focus and whose purpose is to support and advocate for those in need.
Sophia Kagan
Consultant Researcher
Sophia Kagan has two decades’ professional experience as a legal and policy expert in labour and migration, including 12 years with the UN’s International Labour Organization in China, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands. She has a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Arts (Political Science), Monash University; MSc in Development Management, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Arya Nagar
Project Support Officer
Arya joined the Migrant Justice Institute in 2024 and is currently an Engineering student at UNSW. She has experience in community engagement and task management through her involvement in leadership opportunities and community projects based in Canberra. Arya is passionate about social justice and aims to support the Migrant Justice Institute in its mission of advocating for migrant workers' rights.
Jacob Norbury
Research Assistant
Jacob joined the Migrant Justice Institute as a Research Assistant in October 2024. He is a Law Student at UNSW and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Newcastle. He has experience in conducting legal research from working as a paralegal in private practice. Jacob is committed to social justice and aims to use his skills to support the Migrant justice Institute.
UTS Law Faculty and UNSW Faculty of Law & Justice are proud supporters of the Migrant Justice Institute.