Ayla Alves joined the University of South Australia as a Lecturer in Law in 2023. Her research interests include international law, human rights, cultural heritage law, Indigenous peoples' rights, Latin American legal developments, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and children’s religious rights. Her doctoral research considered pathways to regulate cultural appropriation in international law, focusing on Indigenous cultural heritage, and proposing a look at Latin American normative experiences as a way to overcome current international impasses on the matter and to promote Indigenous voices. Ayla concluded her PhD at the University of New South Wales (UNSW-Sydney) in 2023.
Ayla is a former Study Visitor (Judicial Clerk) at the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg), and former co-editor of the ASIL Rights of Indigenous Peoples Interest Group Newsletter. She worked as a research assistant in various projects at UNSW and UTS-Sydney, and as a Teaching Fellow at UNSW where she taught Torts, Introducing Law and Justice, Legal Research and Writing I, and Legal Research and Writing II.
Ayla graduated from Law at the State University of Feira de Santana (Brazil) and is registered with the Brazilian Bar Association. In Brazil, she also taught Human Rights Law and participated in a research project on the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, focusing on freedom of expression. Ayla did her LLM in International Human Rights Law at the University of Liverpool (UK), and moved to Australia to pursue her doctoral degree in 2019. Besides Brazil, the UK, and Australia, Ayla has had experiences with legal studies or legal practice in Portugal and France.