Dr Watchirs Biography
CURRICULUM VITAE: Dr Helen Mary Watchirs, OAM
Years |
Employer |
Position & Level |
2004- current position
|
ACT Human Rights Commission
|
President and Human Rights Commissioner;
(formerly Discrimination Commissioner from April 2004-March 2016) |
2002-04 |
Research School of Social Sciences, ANU |
Post Doctoral Fellow Regulatory Institutions Network |
1997-2001 |
ANU Law School |
PhD Student fulltime |
1997 & 1999 |
UNAIDS Geneva |
Human Rights Legal Advisor |
1996-2002 |
Social Security Appeals Tribunal |
Part-time Legal Member |
1990-96 (with maternity leave 1992-1994) |
Federal Attorney-General’s Department, Human Rights Branch |
Legal 2 officer (seconded project Health Dept 1990-1992 HIV/AIDS) |
1987-90 |
Attorney-General’s Department |
Legal 1 officer |
1985-86 |
Dept Veteran’s Affairs, FOI and Public Law Branch |
Senior Tribunal Advocate |
1984-85 |
Administrative Review Council |
Project Officer |
1983-84 |
NSW Privacy Committee |
Research Officer |
1982-83 |
Australian Law Reform Commission |
Law Reform Officer, Privacy Reference |
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University 2002 – thesis topic: Measuring Legal Implementation of International Human Rights Norms in the Context of HIV/AIDS
- Master of Public Law, Australian National University 1992 – thesis topic: AIDS, An Australian Public Law Perspective
- Admitted to practice in NSW Supreme Court and of the High Court of Australia, 1982
- Bachelor of Law, University of Sydney, 1982
- Bachelor of Arts, University of Sydney, 1980
Awards/appointments
- Finalist in ACT Australian of the Year 2016
- Order of Australia Medal for services to Human Rights in the ACT 2010
- ACT Chief Minister’s Award for Organ Donation Awareness, Policy Advocacy and Support 2015 Gift of Life
- Telstra 2012 ACT Business Woman of Year, award in Community & Government sector
- Member of ANU Chancellor’s Staff Awards Committee (2011 onwards)
- Member, ACT Law Reform Advisory Council (2008 onwards)
- Member of Organ Tissue Authority Advisory Council (2012 -2015)
- Member of National Health & Medical Research Council, Committee to Develop Ethical Guidelines on Transplant Waiting List Eligibility & Allocation Protocols (2013 onward)
- Member of Federal Ministerial Advisory Council on Blood Borne Diseases, Viruses and STIs from 2009-2014, & Co-Chair of Legal Working Group (2010-2014)
- Member of Australian National University and Department of Justice & Community Safety ARC Linkage Grant Human Rights Reference Group on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights 2009-2010
- Member of Australian National University and Department of Justice & Community Safety ARC Linkage Grant on ACT Human Rights Act 2004 Reference Group 2005-09
- Yogie Award, Outstanding Contribution to Youth Sector (Quamby HR Audit) in 2005
- Member, WHO Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation Faculty from 2003
- Member, Regulatory Institutions Network, Board of Advisory Fellows, Research School of Social Sciences Law Program Australian National University 2004-06
- Legal member, ANU Human Ethics Committee, 2003-04
- Jonathan Mann Health and Human Rights full-time research scholar, 2002-03
- National Health and Medical Research Council PhD full-time scholar, 1998-2001
- Chair of NGO, ACT Disability, Aged & Carer Advocacy Service (ADACAS), 1997-99
- Fellow, Harvard/WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Legislation, 1992
- Various health and human rights consultancies: United Nations – UNAIDS, OHCHR, WHO, ILO and UNDP; and the Australian Government – Attorney-General’s Department, former Australian National Council on AIDS, Hepatitis C and Related Diseases, AusAID, and the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council.
List of Publications
- ‘Females in Custody in the ACT: Gendered Issues and Solutions’ 40 (1) Alternative Law Journal (2015) 18-22 (co-author)
- ‘Maturing Attitudes to Human Rights’ ANU Reporter, August 2014 (co-author)
- ‘Opening Address’ in M.Thornton (ed) Sex Discrimination in Uncertain Times (2011)
- ‘Addressing Discrimination Against People Living with Blood Born Diseases’ in Legal Issues in Australian Public Health Impact of Discrimination – 7 papers, 2013: http://www.hrc.oskyweb.com/res/September%202013%20legal%20issues%20consolidated%20papers%20final.pdf
- ‘Five Years Experience if the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT): Insights for Human Rights Protection’ (co-author Gabrielle McKinnon) (2010) 33(1) UNSW Law Review
- ‘The ACT Human Rights Act 2004: an Overview of its Operation’ (2006) Just Policy (VCOSS)
- ‘The First 18 months of the ACT Human Rights Act 2004’ (2006) Democratic Audit (ANU Centre for Policy Development)
- ‘The ACT Human Rights Act 2004’ (2005) New Matilda
- ‘A Local Perspective on ACT Human Rights Act 2004’ (2005) Hot Topics (NSW State Library)
- ‘ ‘Auditing Mental Health and Human Rights: an Australian Model’ (2005) 28 International Journal of Law & Psychiatry 99-125 (author & co-editor special issue)
- ‘Public Health, Criminal Laws and HIV/AIDS in Australian States and Territories’ in Australasian Society for HIV Medicine HIV & Hepatitis C: Policy, Discrimination Legal and Ethical Issues, Monograph (2005) http://www.ashm.org.au/resources/publications/hiv-hepc-policy/
- ‘AIDS Audit – HIV and Human Rights: an Australian Pilot’ (2003) 25 Law and Policy 245-268 (author & co-editor of special issue)
- Cambodian HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Legislative Audit (2003) (co-author Chris Ward) Policy Project, US Futures Group Washington, http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/countryreports/CAM_LegAud.pdf
- ‘A Human Rights Approach to HIV/AIDS Transforming International Obligations into National Laws’ (2002) 22 Australian Yearbook of International Law 77-112
- ‘Review of Methodologies Measuring Human Rights Implementation’ (2002) 30 Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 716-733
- Criminal and Public Health Offences for Disease Transmission or Exposure, Occasional Paper, Australian National Council on AIDS, Hepatitis C and Related Diseases (2002) (www.ancahrd.org/pubs/pdfs/op_2_may02.pdf)
- ‘Measuring Legal Implementation of the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights’ Canadian HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review 2001 (author)
- Application of a Rights Analysis Instrument to Australian Mental Health Legislation: Report to the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, 2000 http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/360B8042750B3170CA2571F100079B16/$File/rights.pdf
- A Rights Analysis Instrument to Measure Compliance with the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: Report to the Australian National Council on AIDS and Related Diseases, 2000 (www.ancahrd.org/pubs/pdfs/raifinal.doc)
- ‘International HIV/AIDS Guidelines: Does Australia Comply?’ (2000) 11(1) HIV/AIDS Legal Link 1
- Handbook for Legislators on HIV/AIDS, Law and Human Rights, UNAIDS and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Geneva, UNAIDS/99.48E, 1999
- ‘Law Reform in Australia: The Legal Working Party, Intergovernmental Committee on AIDS’ in L. Wiseberg (ed) Human Rights and HIV/AIDS: Effective Community Responses, Human Rights Internet (1998)
- A Rights Analysis Instrument for Use in Evaluating Mental Health Legislation, Report to the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council, the Attorney-General’s Legal Practice, 1996 (principal counsel) (www.health.gov.au/hsdd/mentalhe/resources/pdf/rightsanalysis.pdf)
- International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, UNAIDS and the Center for Human Rights, UN HR/PUB/98/1, 1996 (principal author & consultant for the Second International Consultation on HIV/AIDS & Human Rights, Chair Justice Michael Kirby) (www.unaids.org/publications/documents/human/law/3797.html)
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