International justice and human rights: where to next? - Dr Simon Adams

The RMIT Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRIGHT) and the RMIT School of Law are pleased to host an evening lecture: International justice and human rights: where to next? by world-renowned human rights activist and leader, Dr Simon Adams, Professor of Human Rights at Murdoch University.

We are witnessing multiple crises play out across the globe involving threats and challenges to the principles and institutions of international law and human rights - armed conflicts, authoritiarianism on the rise, and the advent of the AI age. Over the past decades, Dr Adams has helmed several prominent human rights organisations - including the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and the Center for Victims of Torture in New York. In this public lecture, Dr Adams who has recently returned home to Australia will offer his reflections on the current state of human rights and the international rules-based order, and what the future may hold for these anchors of the post-WW2 world.

Location: Kaleide Theatre, 360 Swanston St,

RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000. (RMIT Building 8)

Date: Tuesday 21 April 2026

Time: 5:30-7:00pm

This is a free event, but registration is essential.

Simon Adams is Professor of Human Rights at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. He previously worked in New York where he served as President and CEO of the Center for Victims of Torture from 2021-2026. CVT is the largest torture rehabilitation organization in the world. CVT treats survivors in refugee camps and clinics on three continents, and advocates for an end to torture worldwide.

From 2011-2021 Adams was Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, where he led advocacy at the UN Security Council to help prevent crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. He has also worked extensively with human rights defenders around the world, including in Syria, Myanmar, Ukraine and other conflict zones. Between 1994 and 2002 he worked with former IRA prisoners in support of the Northern Ireland peace process. He is also a former member of the international anti-apartheid movement and of the African National Congress in South Africa.

Adams is the author of five books and has also written for the New York Times, The Australian, News24 (South Africa), O Estado de S. Paulo (Brazil), Los Angeles Times and many other publications. He has appeared as an expert commentator on CNN, Al-Jazeera, BBC World News, Deutsche Welle News, China Global Television Network and numerous other international media.

Among his other commitments, he is a long-term member of the International Advisory Board of Skateistan. In 2020 a documentary about Skateistan’s work in Afghanistan, entitled “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re A Girl),” won an Academy Award.