Nyadol Nyuon

Nyadol Nyuon (born 1987) is an Australian lawyer and human rights advocate, who was born in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, of a family fleeing the Second Sudanese Civil War. She works as a commercial litigator in Melbourne and is a regular media commentator.

Early life and education Nyuon was born in the Itang refugee camp in Ethiopia in 1987, where she lived until the age of four. The family was forced to leave the camp due to conflict in Ethiopia, taking 40 days to walk back to an area then in southern Sudan (since 2011, part of South Sudan). Not long after arrival, Nyuon was separated from her mother. She rarely saw her father, Commander William Nyuon Bany, one of the founders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, as he was away fighting, and died in 1996.

She was raised by various step-mothers in Nairobi, Lodwar and at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, where she did her primary and secondary schooling. It was also at Kakuma where she was inspired by the work of UNHCR lawyers and decided that she too wanted to be a lawyer.

In 2005 the family was accepted as migrants to Australia, and Nyuon was 18 years old when they arrived in Melbourne, penniless.

In September 2020 Nyuon was appointed chair of Harmony Alliance: Migrant and Refugee Women for Change, a national coalition of migrant and refugee women in Australia. In her role as chair, she gave a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, titled 'Australia Reimagined'.

In November 2021, Victoria University announced that Nyuon would take up a role in January 2022 as director of the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre, a legal education, training and research institute named in honour of former governor-general Zelman Cowen with a focus on law and cultural diversity. Nyuon oversaw the centre's delivery of the WorkWell Respect Network, a project initiated by WorkSafe Victoria aimed at protecting culturally diverse women in Victorian workplaces. The program was officially launched in July 2024.

Nyuon resigned from Victoria University in 2025. She is determined to create a fairer Australia, pointing out the serious effects of racism on the victim's health.

Writing and media appearances Nyuon has written for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Saturday Paper, the Australasian Review of African Studies, Australian Mosaic (quarterly magazine published by the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia ) and Offset (Victoria University’s annual literary magazine).

Recognition and awards 2011 and 2014 – nominated as one of the hundred most influential African Australians 2018 – Australian Human Rights Commission’s "Racism. It Stops With Me" Award, for her efforts to combat racism in Australia 2018 – Harmony Alliance Award for her contribution to empowering migrant and refugee women 2018 – co-winner of the Tim McCoy Prize for her advocacy on behalf of the South Sudanese community in Australia ? – Afro-Australian Student Organisation‘s "Unsung Hero Award" On 22 May 2026, Nyuon resigned from the order, and the Governor-General withdrew her medal and award.

Selected works (An essay written during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, included in the anthology Fire, Flood and Plague, edited by Sophie Cunningham)