During my time at John’s I studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Technology Sydney. When I went back to John’s as a Senior Tutor, I completed a Master of International Development with Merit from The University of Sydney.

After leaving John’s I worked for a few years in various communications roles before deciding to go back to study. After completing my Master’s degree, I wanted to work overseas in human rights and was selected as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development, taking up a position with the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) in Bangladesh as a Sport for Development Officer in 2011. For the past ten years I have been working in both international and domestic contexts in the field of child protection and child rights. I have worked with UNICEF in six countries, most recently leading UNICEF Australia’s bushfire response.

In Bangladesh, I worked on adolescent girls’ programming to combat child marriage, violence against girls and women, and sexual abuse and harassment. Alongside advocacy for legal and policy change, this involved things like providing life skills for both boys and girls, and safe spaces where girls could meet and participate in structured activities with other girls.

Following my time in Bangladesh, I moved with UNICEF as a Child Protection in Emergencies Specialist to the Philippines and then onto the Syria response. My focus in these roles was children associated with armed forces and armed groups. This is a complicated area of work but included; negotiating with armed groups for the release of children, preventing children from being recruited and reintegration back into communities, and monitoring and reporting on grave human rights violations.

Children are a large part of every refugee and internally displaced population, and in Uganda and Ethiopia I lead the Child Protection sector as part of each humanitarian response to provide services like Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), Sexual and Gender Based Violence prevention and response services, and identification and reunification of separated and unaccompanied children with their parents.

I returned to Sydney at the start of 2019 to start a Juris Doctor at The University of Sydney and look forward to completing my studies by the end of 2021. I hope to continue to work for children in Australia and internationally, and have a particular interest in criminal law and human rights. Being back in Australia has allowed me the opportunity to do more bodysurfing, get back into beach patrol at Bronte, and spend quality time with family and friends.