Louisa Yasukawa is Advocacy and Policy Manager at UNICEF Australia, where she leads advocacy on birth registration and the early years. She works with decision‑makers across government to protect children’s rights in Australia, amplify their voices, and promote evidence‑based, child‑centred policymaking in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Louisa is also Co‑Convenor of the Australian Child Rights Taskforce, comprised of over 100 advocates, service providers and experts. In this role, she coordinates civil society engagement with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and works across key issues including child safety, youth justice, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s rights.
A qualified lawyer, Louisa holds a Master’s degree in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the University of Oxford. She has worked with the UNHCR in Ecuador and as a lawyer at the Refugee Advice & Casework Service in Sydney, supporting people seeking asylum and refugees to navigate complex protection and resettlement processes.
She previously led the research program on children, youth and education at the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva, managing multi-country data collection with internally displaced populations and facilitating workshops with Ministries of Education from 22 countries. She has authored over 50 publications and co‑authored two book chapters, including on internally displaced children’s access to education.
