A record 13 human rights projects have been awarded funding from the Australian Human Rights Institute's 2026 seed funding and joint seed funding schemes.
Research receiving grant support includes studies into self-harm in people with intellectual disability; women and gender diverse taxi and rideshare passengers’ experiences of harassment and sexual violence; improving outcomes for temporary migrants in Australia’s aged care sector; delivering First Nations energy justice in the energy transition; and a national survey of child sexual exploitation and abuse by Australian men in the age of AI.
More than $192,000 in seed funding was awarded this year (up from $139,000 in 2025) thanks to partnerships with UNSW's Digital Grid Futures Institute, Disability Innovation Institute, Institute for Climate Risk and Response, and the faculties of Engineering, Business, Law & Justice, and Medicine & Health.
The Australian Human Rights Institute's seed funding program is open to UNSW research projects that address and relate to human rights. Applications – of which there were a record 42 this year – are accepted from Institute Associates across all UNSW faculties and partner institutions for grants of up to $20,000.
A list of all successful 2026 applicants is available below:
Australian Human Rights Institute grants
Women and gender diverse taxi and rideshare passengers’ experiences of harassment and sexual violence.
Dr Elena Cama
Centre for Social Research in Health
Funding: $10,229
A national survey of child sexual exploitation and abuse by Australian men in the age of AI
Dr Tyson Whitten
School of Social Sciences
Funding: $19,952
Critical geographies, legalities, and global futures of human rights
Associate Professor Jessica Whyte
School of Humanities & Languages
Funding: $14,846
Caring for our carers: Improving outcomes for temporary migrants in Australia’s aged care sector
Dr Kirstie Petrou
School of Humanities and Social Sciences (UNSW Canberra)
Funding: $14,992
Joint grants with UNSW Medicine & Health
Hope, connection and healing: Improving recovery outcomes for older Australians released from prison
Dr Rhys Mantell
School of Population Health
Funding: $13,448
Reproductive autonomy at the margins: Family planning, substance use, and human rights in Australia
Dr Alison Marshall
The Kirby Institute
Funding: $13,446
Addressing health inequalities: A text-mining study of self-harm and suicide behaviours in people with intellectual disability
Dr George Karystianis
School of Population Health
Funding: $13,528
Joint grants with the UNSW Disability Innovation Institute
From beliefs to routines: How teachers’ expectations shape the right to inclusive education
Dr Gianfranco Giuntoli
Social Policy Research Centre
Funding: $9,999
Experiences of sexuality education of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds with intellectual disability
Dr Joanne Danker
School of Education
Funding: $9,833
Joint grant with UNSW Engineering
Australian energy industry’s capacity to deliver First Nations energy justice in the energy transition
Anna Cain
School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering
Funding: $18,952
Joint grant with UNSW Law & Justice
Towards a child rights-based approach to school exclusion decisions in Australian schools
Samara Hand
School of Law, Society & Criminology
Funding: $19,858
Joint grant with the UNSW Business School
Exclusion and coercion in dual market economies
Associate Professor Juan Carlos Carbajal
School of Economics
Funding: $13,524
Joint grant with the UNSW Digital Grid Futures Institute
Embedding gender safeguards in digital renewable energy systems: A socio-technical design study
Associate Professor Carmen Leong
School of Information Systems and Technology Management
Funding: $20,207