ALHR Human Rights Day Fundraising Breakfast
About
Please join Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) for a delicious breakfast at Hall and Wilcox this Human Rights Day, as we focus on human rights in the context of climate litigation. This annual fundraiser for ALHR will bring together distinguished panel members to discuss how a positive focus on human rights as everyday essentials in climate litigation can drive environmental protection and ensure justice for vulnerable communities.Our speakers will explore notable climate litigation cases, their impact and challenges and opportunities in using the law to address climate change, the implications of recent amendments to protest laws in NSW and the potential for Human Rights legislation to shape climate litigation and decision-making.
Start your Human Rights Day with an event that highlights this year's theme of re-engaging with human rights as positive, essential and attainable lived realities. They are in the food we eat, the air we breathe, the words we speak, the protections that keep us safe and the opportunities we pursue for current and future generations.
Date
Wednesday 10 December 2025 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM (UTC+11)Location
Hall and Wilcox
Level 18/347 Kent St, Sydney NSW 2000
This Human Rights Day breakfast is an annual fundraising event for ALHR.
Every ticket purchased for this event will help to fund ALHR's critical human rights work throughout Australia. We accept no funding from governments or political organisations. Your ticket to this event will help us to raise the funds we need to continue to advance the protection and promotion of international human rights law standards throughout Australia and mentor young members of the legal profession.
If you are not already an ALHR member and would like to take advantage of discounted ticket prices, join here! Membership of ALHR provides unique opportunities to advocate for the protection of human rights and enhances your professional development.
Meet the Panel
Kirsty Ruddock, Managing Lawyer, Environmental Defenders Office
Kirsty has worked in climate, environmental and regulatory legal roles for over 25 years including working at the EDO for 12 years on climate and environmental litigation and currently leads the EDO’s corporate accountability work. She has also worked in executive roles at the ACCC and NSW Government and legal roles in Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Far North Queensland.
Vidhya Karnamadakala, Senior Associate, Equity Generation Lawyers
Vidhya is a Senior Associate at Equity Generation Lawyers specialising in climate and public interest litigation. She was previously a Research Fellow at the Institute for Human Rights & Business and a solicitor at King & Wood Mallesons. Vidhya has also worked in refugee law as a solicitor at Refugee Advice and Casework Service. She holds degrees in Law and International Studies from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Laws from New York University.
Professor Emeritus Simon Rice, University of Sydney
Simon is an Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Sydney and a legal consultant at the law firm Chalk & Behrendt. He is a former President of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, and a coauthor of the textbook The International Law of Human Rights. Recently Simon published a paper in issue 190 (October 2025) of Precedent, the journal of the Australian Lawyers Allince, exploring a lawyers' duty to advise a client of climate risk.
Zoe Bush, Barrister, Banco Chambers
Zoe Bush is a barrister at Banco Chambers, with a particular expertise in climate change litigation. In 2023, she co-authored a legal opinion with Sebastian Hartford-Davis on nature-related risks and directors' duties. Prior to being called to the Bar, Zoe was a senior solicitor in the Environmental Defenders Office's Safe Climate (Corporate) team, where she had carriage of greenwashing litigation. Zoe started her career as an Associate at the Federal Court, before joining the WA State Solicitor’s Office. She holds a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School, where she studied on a General Sir John Monash Scholarship and placed first in climate change law. She graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Law (Hons I) and Arts, where she remains an Adjunct Senior Lecturer. In her time as a solicitor, Ms Bush was named 30 under 30 Pro Bono/Community Lawyer of the Year, and Junior Woman Lawyer of the Year.
Panel Moderator
Nicholas Stewart, President, ALHR
Nicholas Stewart is the current President of ALHR and a partner at Dowson Turco Lawyers. He has been instrumental in campaigning for parliamentary inquiries and a Special Commission of Inquiry into NSW's history of gay and transgender murders, established a pro bono clinic to assist families and victims of hate crimes and has a background in corporate and commercial law. Nicholas is a 2026 NSW Australian of the Year Nominee.
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