2026 Sydney Peace Prize Award Ceremony and Lecture
Description
Join us for the Sydney Peace Prize Award Ceremony and Lecture to honour our 2026 Laureate, International Human Rights Lawyer and Barrister Jennifer Robinson.
Jennifer Robinson will be in Sydney to accept the award from Lord Mayor Clover Moore at the Sydney Peace Prize Lecture and Award Ceremony at Sydney Town Hall.
Full program details will be released in the coming months.
The 2026 Sydney Peace Prize will be awarded to Jennifer Robinson “for her unwavering commitment to international law and her dedication to upholding and promoting human rights including free speech, press freedom, and gender and climate justice."
Jennifer Robinson is an internationally renowned human rights lawyer, barrister, author, and advocate, acclaimed for her key work in human rights and media freedom cases worldwide. As legal counsel to Julian Assange, she worked to secure his release in 2024, and has represented countries, social movements, and individuals before international courts and the United Nations. Jen has fought for accountability, challenging unlawful actions against journalists, pursuing climate justice, and supporting human rights in West Papua. A consistent advocate for women’s rights, she has spoken out against the silencing of women by the legal system – a topic she explores in her co-authored book How Many More Women? and the newly released documentary Silenced. Watch the official tralier here.
See the full announcement and profile on our website.
Sydney Town Hall is an accessible venue, see further information on site access, facilities and services. Before purchasing your accessible tickets, please at info@sydneypeace.org.au so we can provide best seating.
By purchasing a ticket to the City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture, you are supporting the Sydney Peace Foundation and the Sydney Peace Prize program.
If you're able, please consider purchasing a Peacemaker ticket to help us promote peace with justice. Peacemaker ticket holders will be given priority seating near the stage.
View our Ticketing Policy.
Doors will open at 5.45pm. We ask you all are seated by 6.20pm.
Please note that this event will be photographed and may be shared on our social media. If you'd prefer not to appear in any content, please let us know.
Please email us info@sydneypeace.org.au for further information.
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Lineup
Jennifer Robinson
Jennifer Robinson, 2026 Sydney Peace Prize Laureate, is widely recognised for her fearless advocacy in defence of human rights, press freedom, and gender justice, and for her enduring commitment to the rule of law under political pressure. An award-winning barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, she has built an international reputation representing journalists, activists, and marginalised communities. Robinson acted as the main legal counsel for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, contributing crucially to his eventual release. She also represented the family of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in efforts to seek accountability for her killing, in relation to allegations of targeting by Israel. She represents smaller nations in the Asia-Pacific and Oceania regions, including West Papua’s self-determination movement and Vanuatu’s advocacy on climate change accountability. Robinson is also a co-author of How Many More Women?, which examines laws around the world that silence women and the legal and policy reforms needed to ensure women’s freedoms are no longer threatened by the systems meant to protect them.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore
Clover Moore is the longest serving Lord Mayor of Sydney. She is the first popularly elected woman to lead the City of Sydney and previously served in the NSW Parliament and on the City and South Sydney councils. From March 1988, Clover was continuously elected to represent the Bligh/Sydney electorate as an independent MP in the NSW Parliament. She was forced to resign on 21 September 2012 after a state law made it illegal for her to continue in both roles. An opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald once said: "In her 20 years as MP, with more successful private member's bills than anyone in a century, Moore has done more to keep the bastards honest than Don Chipp ever did.” Throughout her public life, Clover has championed progressive policies. Small bars, freedom of information laws, whistleblower protection, disclosure of government contracts, boarding house protection, tenant's rights, strata title reform, making it illegal to incite hatred against members of the GLBT community and making same sex adoption legal are among her achievements. When she held the balance of power alongside other independents in NSW, she delivered a charter of reform, called the most radical state political reform agenda of any Westminster Parliament in the 20th century. As Lord Mayor, Clover has led the development and implementation of the City's internationally renowned long term plan – Sustainable Sydney 2030. The plan includes ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse emissions. Under her leadership, the City has developed a global reputation for delivering award-winning facilities, protecting open space, promoting design excellence, delivering new transport options, championing sustainability and initiating progressive solutions to complex city social problems. Clover is an arts graduate of Sydney University. She has two children, Sophie and Tom. She lives in inner-Sydney Redfern with husband Peter and and two staffies, Bessie and Buster.
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