In a career spanning more than a decade, Sarah Eyre has held various government positions
Sarah Eyre has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Human Rights Review Tribunal, announced Associate Minister of Justice Aupito William Sio.
Eyre replaces Rodger Haines, who has been at the helm since 2011. She was named deputy chairperson of the tribunal in 2019.
A barrister since 2014, Eyre specialises in public law and dispute resolution. She is a member of the Pacific Lawyers Association and the founder of the Pasifika Sunrise cultural group at St. Joseph’s Cathedral School in Dunedin.
A person of Tongan and Pākeha descent, she obtained her Bachelor of Arts Major in Māori Language and Culture and Bachelor of Laws from Otago University. She began her career as a refugee status officer with the New Zealand Immigration Service (now Immigration New Zealand).
Eyre then took on solicitor and associate roles at Walters Williams & Co and Powell Webber & Associates in Auckland, respectively. During these stints, she advised on Treaty of Waitangi claims and refugee and migrant issues and made appearances before the Waitangi Tribunal and the Refugee Status Appeals Authority.
She was appointed as a Disputes Tribunal referee in 2011. After few years, she held a statutory warrant as a visiting justice and served as a deputy chairperson for the complaints assessment committee of the Real Estate Agents Authority.
The Human Rights Review Tribunal is an independent judicial body that hears and determines appeals lodged under the Human Rights Act, the Privacy Act, and the Health and Disability Commissioner Act.
