Join Melbourne Social Equity Institute and Melbourne Disability Institute to celebrate the launch of Refugee Displacement, Disability and Human Rights: the Production, Processing and Power of Data by Philippa Duell-Piening. This online event will feature a conversation between the author and three experts who will explore key themes of the book.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities article 31, ‘Statistics and data collection’, is one of the first human rights articles about data production and processing. Dr Duell-Piening's new book explores the legal and practical demands of article 31, how these have been interpreted and the practice of human rights research with marginalised communities.

The book's analysis is assisted by a new conceptual framework that illustrates the relationship between visibility and power. The work demonstrates that data is not inert but powerful and may be used in ways that are helpful and harmful to rights holders. Through closely examining disability human rights data practices in refugee contexts, it concludes that human rights protections are being ignored in the urgency to create more data to identify and address inequality.

At this event, Dr Philippa Duell-Piening will be joined by Amir Brand-Abdi (human rights advocate), Professor Delia Ferri (Maynooth University ) and Jacek Saffell (International Committee of the Red Cross) to discuss the complexities of generating disability data in refugee contexts to meet operational imperatives, while safeguarding data subjects' individual autonomy, choice, and control.

This event will take place via Zoom with professional live captioning. To discuss any other accessibility requirements please get in touch via social-equity@unimelb.edu.au.

Book Cover – Black text on white background, Refugee Displacement, Disability and Human Rights. Abstract blue and gold background.

Visit the Routledge website to learn more about the book

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Speakers

Philippa Duell-Piening

Dr Philippa Duell-Piening is a socio-legal researcher specialising in the human rights of people who are refugees with disability. Before transitioning to academia, Philippa coordinated the Victorian Refugee Health Network at the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, where she led initiatives in health sector development and government engagement to reduce health inequalities and improve access to healthcare services for people who are refugees.

Philippa holds a PhD from Melbourne Law School, a Graduate Diploma in International Law, a Master’s in Community and International Development, and a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy. Drawing on her interdisciplinary expertise across international law, community development, and health, Philippa develops innovative socio-legal research methods that challenge traditional power dynamics in research, working collaboratively with communities to better understand the drivers of marginalisation and the levers for change.

Amir Brand-Abdi

Amir is a passionate and motivated advocate for human rights with an interest in supporting others from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. As a Social Inclusion Participation Advisor with John Holland, Amir works as part of an open-minded team that is willing to embrace diversity across all aspects of the organisation. In June 2018, Amir was presented with the Victorian Award from Friends of Refugees by Professor Gillian Triggs, Former President of the Australian Human Rights Commission (2012 – 2017). This honour was in recognition of Amir’s outstanding contribution to the Australian Community for All Abilities Sports and Community Service. Currently studying a Bachelor of Psychological Science at Deakin University, Amir is a member of the Australian National Goalball Team, a challenging and fast-paced sport for people with vision loss, and is captain of the Australian Blind Soccer (B1) team. Amir has participated in a number of national and international championships in both sports, being awarded gold and silver medals.

Delia Ferri

Delia Ferri is a Professor of Law at Maynooth University (MU) School of Law and Criminology, where she lectures primarily in the fields of EU law and International and European Disability Law and acts as Director of the Postgraduate Research (PhD) Programmes in Law. She is the co-Director of the MU Assisting Living & Learning (ALL) Institute, an interdisciplinary research institute, which includes more than 120 researchers and academics from across several MU Departments and Schools, and promotes person-centred systems and evidence-based policies that empower people across their life course. Prof. Ferri is a widely recognised expert on disability law and policy and has taken part in several projects and EU-funded project and policy studies. Among other roles, she is a senior member of the European Disability Expertise network funded by the European Commission. Since June 2023, she is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union.

Jacek Saffell

Jacek Saffell is a data protection legal advisor with the International Committee of the Red Cross (‘ICRC’) Data Protection Office. With over a decade of data protection experience, before joining the ICRC Jacek has worked for both the public sector as lawyer for the Polish Data Protection Authority, as well as a subject matter expert in the financial sector. Jacek graduated with a master’s degree from the University of Warsaw Law School, as well as a master’s degree from the Warsaw School of Economics. He has also completed several data protection-oriented trainings, including the DPO HA Certification organized by the European Centre on Privacy and Cybersecurity, Maastricht University and ICRC.