Arif Hussein joined the Human Rights Law Centre in 2023 as a Senior Lawyer working to strengthen Australia’s human rights framework.
Arif has over 8 years’ experience working with refugees and people seeking asylum both in Australia, and with people the Australia government subjected to its offshore processing regime. This included working on Manus Island to assist people detained by the Australia government, through the refugee status determination.
Prior to re-joining the HRLC, Arif worked at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) as a Supervising Senior Solicitor in the organisation’s Senior Leadership Team. At RACS, Arif led the Centre’s judicial review program, law reform, policy and community engagement work.
Arif has been awarded a Winston Churchill Trust Fellowship to investigate barriers experienced by refugees and people seeking asylum in understanding and accessing their legal rights and the impact of these barriers on accessibility to justice and procedural fairness in the Australian refugee determination process
Arif also worked as Research Assistant at the Monash University School of Arts on a research project investigating the ways young Australian Muslims contribute to the community and participate in civic life. Up until 2019 Arif's prior role at the Human Rights Law Centre was as a lawyer in the Asylum Seeker and Refugee Rights Unit working to protect the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum.
Arif holds a Bachelor of Laws and Justice from the Queensland University of Technology but considers his work is only possible because of what he has learnt from the communities he serves.