Bassina joined UNSW as in 2009 after a decade as a human rights litigator and clinical legal educator in New York, Mumbai, and Sydney. She is the founding Co-Executive Director of the Migrant Justice Institute, a global not-for-profit organisation that partners with UNSW Law. Bassina was founder and Director of the UNSW Human Rights Clinic from 2009 to 2019. Bassina has led numerous national and global research teams on the rights of migrant...view more
Bassina joined UNSW as in 2009 after a decade as a human rights litigator and clinical legal educator in New York, Mumbai, and Sydney. She is the founding Co-Executive Director of the Migrant Justice Institute, a global not-for-profit organisation that partners with UNSW Law. Bassina was founder and Director of the UNSW Human Rights Clinic from 2009 to 2019. Bassina has led numerous national and global research teams on the rights of migrant workers in Australia, Asia, the US and globally, working closely with civil society, trade unions, business, governments, donors, and international organisations. Her research establishes an evidence base and theoretical frameworks for preventing exploitation of migrant workers and enabling access to justice under domestic and international law.
Before coming to UNSW Bassina practiced at the New York Bar. She was a litigation attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project, and at appellate law firm WilmerHale LLP, where she argued the first U.S. Court of Appeals case on the national-security exception to asylum. Bassina also directed a human rights clinical program at Seton Hall Law School. Bassina began her legal career as a solicitor at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and at Minter Ellison in Sydney, and a policy officer at the Australian Human Rights Commission.
My Grants
Information For Impact: Enabling Education Providers To Address Exploitation Of International Students In Accommodation And At Work (2018)(with L Berg), StudyNSW Partner Project Grant Scheme
Wage Theft in Australia (2017) (with L Berg), UNSW Law Research Support Program Grants Scheme
Transformative Technology for Migrant Workers (2017-18) (with L Berg), Open Society Foundations
Research on working conditions of UNSW international students (2016-17) (with L Berg), UNSW Grand Challenge on Migration
Research in relation to the Fair Work Ombudsman's International Students Engagement Strategy (2016) (with J Howe, A Reilly, L Berg, A Gamlen and G Tan), Fair Work Ombudsman
Migrant Workers' Access to Justice in Australia: An Empirical Assessment (2015) (with L Berg), UNSW Law Faculty Research Grants Program & UTS Law Faculty Research Grant
Open Society Foundations International Migration Initiative Fellowship (2014)
Regulation of the Labour Migration Recruitment Industry: A Human Rights Based Approach (2014) (with J Nolan), UNSW Law Faculty Research Grants Program
Asia-Middle East Migration Corridor Transnational Access to Justice Project - Grant 4 (2013), Open Society Foundations
Asia-Middle East Migration Corridor Transnational Access to Justice Project - Grant 3 (2012), Open Society Foundations
Asia-Middle East Migration Corridor Transnational Access to Justice Project - Grant 2 (2012), Open Society Foundations
Asia-Middle East Migration Corridor Transnational Access to Justice Project - Grant 1 (2011), Open Society Foundations
Migrant Workers' Access to Justice in Indonesia (2011), Tifa Foundation
Asia Human Rights Clinics Project (2010), University of New South Wales Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) Contestable Funding Scheme
My Qualifications
B.Sc./ LL.B. (UNSW), LL.M. (New York University)
My Awards
UNSW Law Faculty Award for Impact (2018)
Open Society Foundations International Migration Initiative Fellowship (2014)
New York University Global Public Interest Law Scholar (2003)
Lionel Murphy Scholarship (2003)
UNSW Alumni Graduand Award (2001)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0464-0606