Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Human Rights Law

University of Queensland; Brisbane; On-site; AUD 85,000 - 114,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Superannuation 17%

Job summary

University of Queensland’s TC Beirne School of Law invites applications for a part-time, fixed-term Research Assistant role in a major international human rights project. Based at St Lucia in Brisbane, you will contribute to benchmarking rights agencies and help translate findings into practical benchmarks and guidance.

You will conduct high-quality legal and interdisciplinary research, support project leadership, supervise junior researchers, and build relationships with agencies and

Qualifications

• Completion, or near completion, of a PhD in law or closely related discipline.
• Emerging research profile with publications or conference presentations desirable.
• Demonstrated knowledge in human rights law, constitutional law, or related areas.
• Experience with quantitative or qualitative data management and analysis.
• Strong project management and leadership potential.
• Excellent written, interpersonal and organisational skills; collaborates across international teams.
• Ability to engage with human rights agencies, researchers and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Research: conduct high-quality legal/interdisciplinary research into the frameworks, procedures and methodologies used by human rights agencies to address competing rights claims, producing sole-authored and collaborative publications for reputable outlets.
• Project leadership and coordination: support leadership to coordinate an international network of researchers, oversee project activities and milestones, and help deliver conferences, workshops, publications and other outputs.
• Supervision and researcher development: supervise research assistants and contribute to supervision of undergraduate and higher degree research students.
• Citizenship and Service: build purposeful relationships with human rights agencies, government, professional bodies and other stakeholders, while contributing to the School and UQ values.
• Engage with internal service, external engagement or collaborative activities within a university or comparable research environment.

Skills

Research skills

Project management

Leadership potential

Data management

Written communication

Interpersonal skills

Team collaboration

Education

PhD in law or related

LLB degree

Job description

• TC Beirne School of Law within the Business, Economics and Law Faculty.
• Part-time (40%), fixed-term position until May 2029.
• Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment
• Base salary will be in the range $85,373 to $113,660 + 17% super (Academic Level A).
• Based at our St Lucia campus in Brisbane.

About This Opportunity

Join a visionary international research project examining how human rights agencies navigate some of the most consequential questions facing contemporary societies. Working within a collaborative and inclusive team of academic experts, research assistants and project leaders, you will contribute to the Benchmarking Human Rights Agencies: How Should They Balance Freedom Rights with Equality Rights? project. Your work will explore how agencies at international, regional, national and subnational levels manage tensions between freedom of speech, association and religion, and the rights to equality and non-discrimination. Alongside building your emerging research profile, you will help coordinate the project, engage with agencies and stakeholders, and translate research into practical benchmarks and implementation guidance.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Research: Conduct high-quality legal and interdisciplinary research into the frameworks, procedures and methodologies used by human rights agencies to address competing rights claims, producing sole-authored and collaborative publications for reputable outlets.
• Project leadership and coordination: Support the leadership team to coordinate an international network of researchers, oversee project activities and milestones, and help deliver conferences, workshops, publications and other research outputs.
• Supervision and Researcher Development: Support and supervise research assistants and, where appropriate, contribute to the supervision or associate supervision of undergraduate and higher degree research students.
• Citizenship and Service: Build purposeful relationships with human rights agencies, government, professional bodies and other stakeholders, while contributing collaboratively to the School and demonstrating behaviours aligned with UQ values.

This is a research focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance.

About You

• Completion, or near completion, of a PhD in law or a closely related discipline is preferred. Outstanding recent LLB graduates with strong research skills will also be positively considered.
• Demonstrated research knowledge in one or more relevant areas, including human rights law, constitutional law, comparative law, competing rights, procedural fairness, statutory bodies or independent commissions.
• An emerging research profile, demonstrated through publications in reputable refereed journals, conference presentations or other relevant scholarly outputs is desirable.
• Experience in quantitative or qualitative data management and analysis, or the demonstrated capacity to learn appropriate data management systems and research methods.
• The capacity to develop project management and leadership skills while supporting milestones, publications, events and the timely delivery of project outcomes.
• Strong written, interpersonal and organisational skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across a diverse international research team.
• The ability to engage professionally and constructively with human rights agencies, researchers, government representatives and other stakeholders.
• Experience contributing to internal service, external engagement or collaborative activities within a university or comparable research environment is desirable.

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you will have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged. As part of our commitment to excellence in research and professional practice in academic contexts, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and other forms of staff support and development.

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad: from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements, access to exclusive internal-only vacancies, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

Other Information

Pre-employment checks may include verification of the right to work in Australia and qualifications. This may also include checks relating to gender-based violence matters or other integrity and conduct requirements.

You must maintain unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Employer-sponsored work rights are not available for this appointment.

We’re dedicated to equity, diversity, and inclusion. We recognise that career pathways and opportunities differ, and encourage applications from candidates who may not meet every criterion but can demonstrate their potential relative to opportunity. We’re also happy to support any accessibility needs throughout the recruitment process. Just let us know how we can help by emailing [e-mail] or calling [phone].

Applications close 2nd November 2026 at 11.00pm AEST (R-69658). Please note that interviews have been tentatively scheduled for mid November.