The Initiative is responsive to requests from local, national and international public and private collaborative entities in the areas of policy and programme development, evaluation and research. This fosters linkages between the Initiative and various field settings, and represents a great source of learning for students. In turn, the knowledge and experience gained, by and through these efforts, will provide these collaborative entities with the potential to translate new knowledge into practice. While the immediate geographic focus of the IHHR is on Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, it remains attentive to potential collaborations elsewhere in the world and on the global level.

As a collective endeavour of the UNSW's IHHR and through the individual engagement of a Steering Group members composed by affiliates of the three Faculties, the IHHR collaborates with international organisations on the health and human rights dimensions of their respective mission and mandate. Among these organizations are the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).