Judith Rafferty (nee Herrmann)

Judith Rafferty is a conflict resolution researcher, practitioner, trainer, and consultant working across Australia and internationally in conflict and post-conflict settings.

Her research focuses on justice, sexual violence, gender, and conflict management, with a particular emphasis on victim-survivors' experiences and relational, practice-informed approaches to justice. Her PhD (accessible here) examined justice for victim-survivors of conflict-related sexual violence at Rwanda's gacaca courts and earned several awards, including the Dean's Award for Research Higher Degree Excellence 2022. Her thesis forms the basis of her monograph Justice Needs of Victim-Survivors of Sexual Violence: Post-Genocide Justice and the Rwandan Gacaca Courts (Routledge, forthcoming 2026). Her further qualifications include a Master of Conflict and Dispute Resolution, a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, and a Graduate Certificate in Psychology. Judith has published widely and collaborated internationally with scholars across conflict resolution, transitional justice, genocide, and violence against women, contributing to academic, policy, and public discourse. She is a member of the editorial team for the Internet Journal of Restorative Justice.

During her twelve years as an academic at James Cook University, Judith served as Senior Lecturer and Director of the postgraduate Conflict Management and Resolution program, leading significant curriculum and subject development in conflict studies. She created multiple teaching tools and resources translating complex conflict theories into practical, real-world applications. For example, for one of her subjects, Judith developed the Open Access Resource Neuroscience, Psychology and Conflict Management, published in 2024. She continues to develop and deliver specialised conflict management and research methodology training to organisations and practitioners in Australia and internationally, both as an independent consultant and as Senior Trainer and Coach Mentor with the Conflict Management Academy.

As a conflict resolution practitioner, Judith is accredited as an Advanced Mediator under the Australian Mediator and Dispute Resolution Accreditation Standards (AMDRAS) and as a conflict coach with Conflict Coaching International, with additional training in group facilitation and restorative justice conferencing. She has been practising privately as a mediator, conflict management coach, and facilitator since 2011, and has been serving as a community mediator and mediation coach at the Cairns Dispute Resolution Centre since 2017.

Judith's expertise also extends to public speaking, with a repertoire of hundreds of presentations, guest lectures, and webinars covering diverse topics such as conflict resolution processes and skills, cross-cultural conflict resolution, transitional justice, genocide, and violence against women. She has given a TEDx talk on building resilience through forgiveness, relating to her PhD research in Rwanda, which can be viewed here. She also won the JCU 3-Minute-Thesis competition in 2020 and the People’s Choice Award in 2020. Her presentation can be viewed here.

Judith is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Cairns Institute, James Cook University, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Australian Lutheran College of the University of Divinity. She is Secretary on the Board of Kindred Global and is a board member of Mediators Beyond Borders Oceania, where she previously served as Vice Chair.