Image: Jerry Mutagubya
Assoc. Professor, Marijke Bassani
Marijke is a Lama Lama/Lamalama, Binthi Warra (Guugu Yimithirr Nation) and Bulgun Warra woman from Cape York Peninsula in remote Far North Queensland, Australia. She is also multilingual with her first language being Guugu Yimithirr and her second, East Cape York Kriol.
Marijke is a commercially-trained international Human rights Lawyer, Associate Dean and Professor, Scholar and Photographer with over a decade of legal experience, specialising in International law with a focus on discrimination and Human rights relating to Indigeneity, race, gender, sexuality and cultural heritage. Sitting on multiple executive, non-executive boards and subcommittees across Australia and the globe, Marijke has also been awarded a host of international and national scholarships in recognition of her outstanding leadership and humanitarian work. Marijke is an American Australian Association Scholar, UC Berkeley Scholar, Roberta Sykes Scholar, Macquarie Group Foundation Scholar, Aurora Education Foundation Scholar, Cape York Leaders Scholar and has twice been awarded the Pride Foundation Australia national LGBTQIA+ grant.
Marijke recently completed a cross-institutional PhD in International law under the joint supervision of the University of New South Wales Sydney Faculty of Law & Justice, and the University of California Berkeley Center for Race & Gender where she was Visiting Scholar and served as Human rights Lawyer in-residence (2022-23), becoming the first Australian to hold the latter position.
Advocacy
An internationally accomplished and commercially-trained Lawyer with experience across the corporate, government, not-for-profit and social justice legal sectors, Associate Professor Bassani is a multidimensional practitioner with a multidisciplinary practice that blends three different worlds of community and culture, law/lore and academia. From inside corporate boardrooms and government advisory boards to legal and academic committees, Marijke’s advocacy is wawu-led (heart/spirit), community-driven and trauma-informed with cultural intelligence at the centre.
On both the international and national stage, Marijke has advocated for protecting the rights and voices of First Nations LGBTQIA+ peoples from around the world. During her time as Visiting Scholar and Human rights Lawyer in-residence at the UC Berkeley Center for Race & Gender Marijke presented her work at the UC Berkeley Spring Forum Series. This led to leading, drafting and delivering a statement on Indigenous LGBTQIA+ rights in collaboration with the International Work Group of Indigenous Affairs which was presented at the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2023.
Marijke’s global leadership and humanitarian advocacy has been recognised by the University of Oxford, where she has contributed chapters to several major publications including The Oxford Handbook of Indigenous Peoples and International Law (2024) and Indigenous Law: Plural Pathways to Reclaiming Heritage (2025). Marijke also presented her work from the latter at an international Cultural heritage law workshop hosted by the University of Münster in Germany in 2024. Most recently, Marijke accepted a further invitation from the University of Oxford to join the Oxford Intersections Gender Justice Project (2026).
Marijke's Expertise
- Legal Consultancy + Policy + Research
- United Nations Adocacy + Written Statements
- First Nations LGBTQIA Strategy + Cultural Safety + Anti-Racism + Anti-Queerphobia Education
- Keynotes + Speaking Engagements
- Executive + Non-Executive Board Directorships & Memberships
- Project Management
- Lecturing
- Clinical Legal Supervision
- Academic Chapters + Journal Articles
- Freelance Writing + Photography
- Research Ethics Review + Advice
- Parliamentary Committee Inquiry + Law Reform Commission Submissions
- Panel Moderation + Participation
Past &
Current Work
Marijke recently completed a cross-institutional PhD study in International law at UNSW and UC Berkeley. The study explored through an intersectional Indigenous queer lens the lived experiences of Cape York and Far North Queensland Indigenous LGBTQIA+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy peoples within their communities, wider society and the legal system. Marijke’s PhD project has already attracted international attention, being flagged as a valuable source to draw from in redeveloping the global contemporary Indigenous-rights legal protection framework.
In 2025 Marijke commenced a Nikon endorsed Human rights photography grassroots project titled Welcoming the Unwelcome: A Black Rainbow Homecoming . This is a multi-year Cape York Peninsula-based project that involves taking portraits and collecting contemporary personal narratives about community life and culture for First Nations LGBTQIA+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy peoples who are photographed in clothing, poses and locations of their choosing. All portraits and contemporary personal narratives collected will be collated into a photography book, with all proceeds generated from the book being returned directly to those who featured in it to build financial wellness and autonomy for Cape York Black rainbow mob.
Publications
Marijke’s written work has been featured in a variety of prestigious international and national publications and forums that include The Oxford Handbook, Oxford University Press, Santander Art & Culture Law Review, the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner and Australian Lawyers Weekly.
Acknowledgement
of Country
I acknowledge the sovereignty and ancient (kin)nection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to their lands, skies and seas. I honour and pay my respects to Elders, Ancestors, Knowledge Holders and Keepers, existing and emerging Leaders. Sovereignty over our lands, spirits and bodies was never ceded and continues today. Land back. Bodies back.
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How are you?
My name is Marijke