Te Pae Tawhiti Postgraduate Scholarship for Nera Tautau
Nera has been awarded a Borrin Foundation Te Pae Tawhiti Postgraduate Scholarship to undertake a Master of Human Rights Law at the University of Melbourne. Her study is focused on advancing human rights for Pacific communities in Aotearoa.
Borrin Foundation Te Pae Tawhiti Postgraduate Scholarship
About Nera
Nera Tautau is a first-generation New Zealand-born Samoan (Malaemalu, Moata’a). The eldest of three, her family is from Porirua. She graduated from the University of Otago in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and a Bachelor of Laws, and was admitted to the Bar in 2021. During her time at university, she served as President of the Otago Pacific Island Law Students’ Association (PILSA) and was a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Latin America.
Nera is a Senior Human Rights Advisor to the Race Relations Commissioner at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata New Zealand Human Rights Commission, a role she has held for the past five years. She works on human rights and race relations issues in Aotearoa, including the rights of Pacific peoples. Her work has included contributing to national initiatives such as the National Action Plan Against Racism and United Nations treaty body reporting under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). Prior to this role, she worked as a policy advisor at the Ministry of Justice.
What Nera is studying
Nera has been awarded a Borrin Foundation Te Pae Tawhiti Postgraduate Scholarship to undertake a Masters of Human Rights Law at the University of Melbourne. Her study is focused on advancing the rights of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa. Through her research, she aims to contribute to Pacific human rights scholarship and deepen her expertise in human rights law to support Pacific communities to engage with human rights frameworks in ways that reflect their values and lived experiences. After completing her studies, Nera intends to return to Aotearoa to continue working in the human rights sector, supporting Pacific communities to engage with human rights as a practical tool for advocacy and change.
Scholarship amount
$59,147.77
“Receiving the Te Pae Tawhiti Postgraduate Scholarship is incredibly meaningful. It gives me the opportunity to pursue postgraduate study that would not otherwise have been possible and will enable me to make a meaningful contribution towards making human rights real and relevant for Pacific communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.”