2023/2024 NRF Fellows

Betty Barkha, hailing from the Fiji Islands, presently serves as a Research Fellow at the Global Institute for Women in Leadership at the Australian National University. Her academic journey culminated in a PhD, titled “Cascading Tides, Invading Lives,” which centres on scrutinizing the Gendered impacts of Climate Change-Induced Displacement and Planned Relocation in Fiji. Employing Pacific research methodologies through an intersectional feminist perspective, her work delves into the intricate interplay of factors such as gender, ethnicity, religion, and structural constructs in shaping diverse experiences of climate mobility. Within this context, Betty explores the reinforcement and mitigation of gender inequalities in state-led responses to planned relocation and displacement. Betty also worked alongside the team of experts at the UNSW Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law in developing the first draft of the Pacific Regional Climate Mobility Framework.

She has over a decade of experience working with development organizations in Asia and the Pacific, and is a member of several boards and advisory groups. Notable roles include her tenure as the Pacific Gender Equality, Disability & Social Inclusion Technical Advisor for Save the Children Australia and previous positions at Human Rights Watch, FHI 360, and the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development (APWLD). Betty is also the co-chair of the board for the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) and an advisor to FRIDA Young Feminist Fund and the Global Resilience Fund for Women and Girls. Her leadership contributions extend to previous board positions with the CIVICUS Alliance and the Association of Women in Development (AWID).

Dr Barkha’s research interests include gender, climate change, displacement, and social inclusion. She is committed to using her research to inform policy and practice that can help to protect the rights of women and girls affected by climate change. Dr Barkha also has a Master of Arts in Sociology and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology.

Dr Miller is a researcher whose work focuses on migration and settlement for people from refugee and non-refugee migrant backgrounds. Since 2016 she has been involved with several research projects investigating settlement experiences in Australia, with an emphasis on engagement with participants’ communities and service providers working with them. Her research examines the experiences of adults and young people in relation to overall settlement, social determinants of health, feelings of belonging or discrimination, cultural change and adaptation, health and wellbeing, family relationships and challenges, and employment.

Emily has a background working with high school students in a range of roles, including as a teacher. She built on these experiences in her PhD, examining experiences in high school for young people from refugee backgrounds in South Australia. This research emphasised engagement with young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, their families, and educators working in high school settings. Dr Miller was awarded the university-wide Ian Davey Research Thesis Prize for most outstanding PhD thesis at the University of South Australia. In her broader work, Dr Miller has conducted research across a wide range of topics and in different contexts, including in university settings, with services providers, employers, and government, in Australia, Canada and the United States of America. She is motivated to conduct research that can amplify the voices of marginalised groups, to effectively communicate research findings and provide evidence that informs policy and practice.

Emily’s ancestors migrated to Australia from Ireland and Scotland in the nineteenth century. Although she identifies as Australian, she recognises that these lands are the unceded territories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. She lives and works on the Country of the Kaurna Nation and pays respects to Kaurna Elders.

Dr Asher Hirsch is a Senior Policy Officer with the Refugee Council of Australia, the national peak body for refugees and the organisations and individuals who support them. His work over nine years has involved research, policy development and advocacy on national and international issues impacting refugee communities, including at the Australian Parliament and in national and international media.

Asher is also a Lecturer at Monash University in public law, human rights, and refugee law, and has taught at a number of other universities. Asher has also worked with Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia, the Human Rights Law Centre and the Centre for Multicultural Youth.

Asher holds a PhD in law from Monash University, as well as a Juris Doctor, Master of Human Rights Law, Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice and a Bachelor of Arts. His PhD focused on Australia’s externalisation policies in Southeast Asia. It investigated Australia’s externalisation policies in cooperation with Indonesia and the International Organisation for Migration which aim to stop asylum seekers from reaching Australian territory. It examined Australia’s legal responsibility for refugees in Indonesia, arguing that Australia cannot escape responsibility for human rights violations of refugees by outsourcing migration controls to Indonesia. This research is vital, as other countries seek to emulate Australia’s externalisation policies to prevent access to asylum and attempt to evade responsibility for refugees.

He has published over 20 peer-reviewed academic papers, including an edited book on Refugee Externalisation Policies, together with Dr Amy Nethery and Professor Azadeh Dastyari.