UNSW Kaldor Centre

In a world fractured by fear and misinformation, how do we rebuild trust and advance refugee protection? Hugh de Kretser delivers a powerful closing keynote on bridging divides, through truth, empathy, and collective action. This is a call to move beyond rhetoric and create systems that work for refugees and communities alike. Closing keynote address recorded at the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference,...

With governments stepping back, can civil society, businesses, academics—and refugees themselves—fill the protection gap? This session reveals “whole-of-society” strategies driving real change. The panel session was recorded at the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world. Speakers Chair: Daniel Ghezelbash, Professor of Law & Director, Kaldor...

Too often, refugee participation is symbolic. This panel flips that script—showcasing real-world leadership by refugees and how inclusive policies make systems stronger. This panel session was recorded at the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world. Speakers Chair: Frances Voon, Executive Manager, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law...

In an era of misinformation, echo chambers, and rising polarisation, how can we bring people together for honest and respectful dialogue on refugee and migration issues? This session shines a light on proven strategies that cut through fear and foster unity, grounded in research, policy, and real-world practice. Recorded at the the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, Building Bridges: Advancing refugee...

Join us for the keynote address from the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, 'Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world' held on 23 October 2025 at UNSW Sydney. Speakers Daniel Ghezelbash, Professor of Law & Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney Mohammed Naeem, Senior Director for Advocacy Strategy, Refugees International Timestamp 00:00 Opening rema...

10 Years of the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda (NIPA +10): Reflections from the frontlines of the Envoy of the Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement In October 2015, 109 states endorsed the Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change ('Nansen Agenda'), providing a toolbox of concrete policy options and proposing a series...

Governments are increasingly turning to digital technologies such as GPS ankle monitors and tracking apps as so-called “alternatives to detention.” But a new report from UNSW Sydney’s Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, the International Detention Coalition and the Refugee Law Lab shows these tools too often replicate detention in digital form, restricting liberty, undermining dignity and...

A recording of an online seminar held on 12 June 2025, hosted by UNSW's Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, and the Australian Institute of Administrative Law (NSW). In the November 2023 case of NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, the High Court unanimously held that non-citizens could not be held in immigration detention when there was ‘no real prosp...

In 2027, governments are expected to adopt the world’s first-ever global treaty on the Protection of Persons in the event of Disasters — a landmark step toward strengthening international responses in a time of intensifying climate risks. Yet, the current draft of the treaty barely mentions displacement at all. Our latest Policy Brief explains why that must change — and how. Here, co-authors UNSW...

Learn more about a ground-breaking new global toolkit to guide legal practitioners and decision-makers faced with refugee claims involving the impacts of climate change and disasters. 'International Protection for People Displaced across Borders in the context of Climate Change and Disasters: A Practical Toolkit' is a clear, systematic guide to this issue (https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/...

A recording of a speed briefing held on Tuesday, 11 March 2025, to learn more about how misinformation works and what to do about it. For those who want a truthful discussion, yet may sometimes struggle to respond to false claims, a new report is designed to help you know what to do and when: Countering misinformation about refugees and migrants: An evidence-based framework, find it here: https://...

A recording of the celebratory launch of 'Judging Refugees: Narrative and Oral Testimony in Refugee Status Determination' held on 20 November 2024. This was a hybrid panel event co-hosted by UNSW's Centre for Criminology, Law & Justice, and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, in conversation with Dr Anthea Vogl, Dr Tina Dixson, Associate Professor Maria Giannacopoulos and Professor Da...

A recording of the inaugural Kaldor Centre Oration, delivered by Kate Eastman AM SC and Zaki Haidari on 21 November 2024. The Kaldor Centre Oration is a new flagship lecture hosted by the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney, designed to enrich the public conversation on refugee issues by showcasing transformational ideas that can spark fresh thinking and action. It is a valu...

Scientia Professor Jane McAdam AO, explains why Australia needs a new emergency visa to respond to humanitarian crises, which she and her co-author, Dr Regina Jefferies, propose as part of a broader emergency response framework in their new policy brief. Having a framework that could be activated in a crisis would enable a more predictable, streamlined and effective response. In the context of peo...

UNSW's Kaldor Centre was established as the Abbott government came to power with its “stop the boats” campaign; the Centre showed the power of starting with hope, becoming the world’s first centre dedicated to the study of international refugee law. For a decade, Jane McAdam AO has steered the Centre as an authoritative, non-partisan voice of reason, playing a unique and valued role among those se...

A recording of the closing keynote address at the 2023 Kaldor Centre Conference: 'Learning from the future: Foresight for the next decade of forced migration' held on 20 November 2023. Kaldor Centre Director, Scientia Professor Jane McAdam AO, reflected on the day’s discussions and the implications of future megatrends for international refugee law. Will international refugee law still have releva...

Recording of Panel Session 3 at the 2023 Kaldor Centre Conference, 'Learning from the future: Foresight for the next decade of forced migration' held on 20 November 2023 at UNSW Sydney. Speakers: Peter Lewis, Executive Director, Essential Media Amanda Tattersall, Associate Professor of Practice, Sydney Policy Lab Lenore Taylor, Editor, Guardian Australia Shabnam Safa, Chairperson, National Refugee...

Recording of Panel Session 2 at the 2023 Kaldor Centre Conference, 'Learning from the future: Foresight for the next decade of forced migration' held on 20 November 2023 at UNSW Sydney. Speakers: Cathryn Costello, Professor of Global Refugee & Migration Law, University College Dublin Niamh Kinchin, Acting Dean of Law, University of Wollongong Edward Santow, Director, Policy & Governance, Human Tec...

Panel session recording from the 2023 Kaldor Centre Conference, 'Learning from the future: Foresight for the next decade of forced migration' held on 20 November 2023 at UNSW Sydney. Speakers: Magdalena Arias Cubas, Red Cross Red Crescent Global Migration Lab Louis Everuss, Centre Coordinator, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, University of South Australia Adama Kamara, Deputy CEO, Refugee Council...

How do we start thinking about the future of forced migration? A recording of the opening keynote address from the 2023 Kaldor Centre Conference, 'Learning from the future: Foresight for the next decade of forced migration'. A dynamic day-long program that challenged participants to step out of today’s set agenda to look forward to 2033 and consider, is the international protection regime capable...

A recording of the opening remarks from the 2023 Kaldor Centre Conference, 'Learning from the future: Foresight for the next decade of forced migration' to set the scene for the day long event. The conference took participants 10 years into the future, to explore the forced migration challenges we may face in the decade to come. The purpose was not to predict the future, but to help us to be bette...

NZYQ v Minister for Immigration (NZYQ) changed the landscape for immigration detainees in Australia. It led to the release of at least 149 people from indefinite immigration detention where there was no real prospect of removing them from Australia in the 'reasonably foreseeable future’. It also led to the rapid passage of new legislative provisions that could be used to restrict the freedom of th...

As the number of displaced people around the world continues to increase, the gap between the needs and availability of durable solutions grows wider. Resettlement plays an important role in providing solutions, and there is an increasing recognition of the potential role of complementary pathways, which can provide access to safety through other migration channels. These include labour mobility,...

As Shuja Jamal walked to the Presidential Palace in Kabul for work at 8.30am on 15 August 2021, ‘it was clear that this is unlike any other day … something in the air in the city ... You can actually feel it.’ Shuja is the former director-general for international relations for Afghanistan’s National Security Council, and his new book is 'The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan', co-authore...

Rejoignez des chercheurs de premier plan sur la mobilité climatique en Afrique alors qu’ils discutent du lancement de la nouvelle série de publications Climate Mobility Africa Insights. Développé et publié par le Climate Mobility Africa Research Network (CMARN), avec le généreux soutien de la Robert Bosch Stiftung et du Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Insights vise à faire progresser...