Dr Susan Harris Rimmer is an academic at the Australian National University and is
President of national NGO Australian Lawyers for Human Rights. She was born and raised in
Coonabarabran in central-west NSW. She graduated from the University of Queensland in
1997 with a BA (Hons)/LLB (Hons) and received a University Medal in 1996.
After some volunteer work with the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Kenya and the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Susan did her articles of clerkship with
national law firm Blake Dawson Waldron and was admitted as a solicitor in March 2000.
Since then, Susan has pursued human rights/refugee advocacy work with the peak bodies the
National Council of Churches in Australia, the Australian Council for International
Development and the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. Susan has also been a Research
Specialist at the Parliamentary Library advising Federal Parliamentarians on legal issues
relating to refugees and terrorism, as well as analysing legislation in Bills Digests.
Susan was selected to participate in the 2020 Summit to discuss the Future of Australian
Governance. She was elected to the Board of UNIFEM Australia in October 2008. She
received a Future Summit Leadership Award from the Australian Davos Connection in 2008,
and is a Vincent Fairfax Fellow in Ethics and Leadership.
Susan is currently assisting Professor Hilary Charlesworth on the ARC research project
'Building Justice and Democracy After Conflict'. Susan received the degree of
Doctor of Juridical Science from the ANU College of Law for her thesis "Transitional
Justice and the Women of East Timor" in December 2008.
Articles
Books
Contributions to Books
The Role of UNHCR, The Challenge of Armed Conflict: International Law Responds. (2006)
Popular Press
Research Briefs
Presentations
