2024 in Review

A lunchtime conversation with RACS Centre Director and Principal Solicitor Sarah Dale and Supervising Senior Solicitor Ahmad Sawan. 

2024 has been a year of global turmoil and anxiety, with many national policy and advocacy actions affecting the safety and possibilities of people seeking asylum. This is an opportunity for human rights supporters to listen to two legal experts who have been at the forefront of many of these national upheavals. 


Sarah Dale is the Centre Director and Principal Solicitor at RACS. During her time as our first Child Specialist Solicitor, she developed an outreach legal service for unaccompanied children within NSW and throughout Australia. Through this service she worked extensively with children who were detained on Christmas Island and faced transfer to Nauru. Sarah also co-founded the Stateless Children Australia Network, working with Katie Robertson to lead research in and respond to the legal needs of stateless children in Australia.  

Ahmad Sawan is one of RACS Supervising Senior Solicitors and heads our Palestine Project. An alumnus of The University of Melbourne, he has gone on to work with RACS Centre Director and Principal Solicitor Sarah Dale at their Stateless Legal Clinic, as well as representing clients held offshore on Nauru and Papua New Guinea. He has also been involved in several parliamentary inquiries, most recently in 2024 with his submissions on the new Administrative Review Tribunal.