PROF Penelope Mathew will succeed Dr Helen Watchirs as president of the ACT Human Rights Commission. 

Prof Mathew, who is returning to her former home town, takes up the position on October 23. She will be the ACT’s second Human Rights Commissioner. Dr Watchirs, who finishes in the role this month, was the first, appointed to the role in 2004, and then as president of the Commission in 2016.

Currently Dean of the University of Auckland Law School, Prof Mathew is an expert adviser on international refugee law and has experience working in other human rights jurisdictions and engaging with the UN.

She worked at the ACT Human Rights Commission as a legal and policy adviser between 2006 and 2008. In that role, she conducted an audit of the Territory’s remand centres and was frequently called upon to advise on human rights issues arising from legislative proposals. She also designed and delivered human rights education for public servants and the ACT community.

In 2008, she was awarded an International Women’s Day Award for her outstanding contributions to human rights and social justice.

Prof Mathew says: “My priorities include preparation for proposed additions to the Human Rights Act – the right to a healthy environment and a quick and accessible way for community members to complain about human rights abuses to the ACT Human Rights Commission.

“My time in Aotearoa NZ has given me new insights on the rights of First Nations people. It has been rewarding as well as challenging, given the pandemic. It is now time to come home to the ACT, a place where I have spent a significant period of my working life and raised my son.”