The Australian Human Rights Institute’s Provocation Series returns in 2026 with a debate about the future of human rights in the age of AI.

The advance of AI systems presents growing challenges at the intersection of law, politics and rights. The discussion will explore how we can protect ourselves from technology that can easily manipulate public discourse, increase digital surveillance, impact our environment and reinforce inequalities and discrimination.

It will also seek to address whether we are underutilising AI tools that could improve access to justice and provide insights to understand and advocate for human rights and democracy.

Speakers

Ange Lavoipierre
Ange Lavoipierre is the ABC’s national technology reporter. Ange has been a journalist with the national broadcaster for 18 years, producing award-winning coverage of tech and emerging phenomena in AI since 2022. They've also hosted several acclaimed ABC podcasts, including RN’s Science Friction, Background Briefing, Schmeitgeist, and the ABC’s first daily news podcast The Signal.

Samantha Yorke
Samantha Yorke is a full-time member of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) where she is the Authority lead on mis/disinformation, scams and other consumer and telco-related matters. In 2026, Samantha was appointed as the ACMA’s inaugural Chief AI Officer, charged with leading its approach to AI. Prior to being appointed to the ACMA, Samantha worked in Google’s Government Affairs and Public Policy team, established the regulatory function at the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Australia, worked as General Counsel AUNZ and Legal Director for Yahoo! Asia Pacific, and spent 10 years working for Microsoft in London, supporting the MSN business through a period of exponential growth and contributing to the launch of the Xbox gaming console across Europe.

Professor Toby Walsh
Toby Walsh is an ARC Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at UNSW Sydney.He is Chief Scientist of UNSW.AI, UNSW's campus wide AI Institute. He is a strong advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve our lives, having spoken at the UN, and to heads of state, parliamentary bodies, company boards and many others on this topic. This advocacy has led to him being "banned indefinitely" from Russia. He is a Fellow of the Australia Academy of Science, and was named on the international "Who's Who in AI" list of influencers. He has written five books on AI for a general audience, the most recent is "The Shortest History of AI: six ideas are all you need to know".

Professor Justine Nolan (Moderator)
Justine Nolan is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW Sydney and Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute. Justine's research focuses on the intersection of business and human rights, in particular, supply chain responsibility for human rights and modern slavery. Her 2019 co-authored book Addressing Modern Slavery examines how consumers, business and government are both part of the problem and the solution in curbing modern slavery in global supply chains. Other recent books include The International Law of Human Rights (OUP, 2017) and Business and Human Rights: From Principles to Practice (Routledge, 2016). She teaches international human rights law and related courses on global law, development, globalisation and business and human rights. Justine works closely with business, government and civil society and has been a key driver of the Australian business and human rights movement. In 2019 she was named 'Academic of the Year' at the Australian Law Awards. From 2016-2019 she served as Associate Dean Academic at UNSW Law.

Professor Vlado Perkovic (Introduction)
Vlado Perkovic is the Provost at UNSW Sydney and Scientia Professor at UNSW and was previously the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health as well a Professorial Fellow at The George Institute. His research focus is clinical trials and epidemiology, in particular, in preventing the progression of kidney disease and its complications. He leads several major international clinical trials with a focus on diabetic kidney disease, IgA nephropathy and CKD more broadly, and has Chaired the Steering Committees of many trials along with several ongoing trials. Vlado holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Melbourne and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and of the American Society of Nephrology.

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