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Law honours student Janaki Tampi is passionate about human rights. Janaki is writing her law honours thesis on strengthening Australian laws to protect the human right to adequate housing.

“I have always had a passion for social justice issues”, says Janaki, “which is why I pursued studies in law." Janaki won the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Law prize. “I started working for Legal Aid in WA in my first year of university study. I deferred my studies at UWA in 2007 and took up a position with Legal Aid in Victoria where I became involved with the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival (HRAFF) while completing history honours on transitional justice under a human rights historian at Melbourne University.” Janaki says, “Working for Legal Aid has demonstrated that ‘human rights’ are not something to be thought of foreign to Australia. Indeed, this is what the HRAFF aims to do – make human rights issues relevant, accessible and significant to the broader Australian Community.”

Janaki returned to her law degree at UWA in 2008 and took up a role on the organising committee of HRAFF in Perth . This year, as Manager of the Festival, Janaki is working with a dedicated team to create a bold festival, which will become a recognised cultural arts festival for Western Australia. There are other UWA Law students on the committee including – Rosie Staude, Kayla Calladine, Jade Roberts, along with five UWA Law graduates – Leo Gallop, Devika Tampi, Ann-Maree Mathison, Natalie Hopkins and Phoebe Mclarty. The committee estimates the total cost of the festival will be $150,000.

HRAFF Patron and former Justice of the High Court, Michael Kirby AC CMG said: "Media and popular culture play a huge role in raising human rights consciousness. They make other people's injustices our own."

The first fundraising event for the Perth festival is on Sunday 20 September, with a screening of The 10 Conditions of Love , followed by a Q&A with Director Jeff Daniels. In May 2010, the HRAFF will screen films over five nights, open at least two art exhibitions and host a series of live music performances in Perth. The best of the Perth HRAFF will then travel to Broome, Geraldton, Margaret River and Merredin. The committee hopes to devise an education package, which will bring local and international human rights issues into classrooms of Western Australia. This will include setting up an online screening of one of our films, for regional and remote schools to participate.