A HUMAN rights lawyer and WikiLeaks advocate on her way to Australia to give a speech today about ''lawyers on the front line'' has been held up at London's Heathrow airport after being told she was ''inhibited'' from flying.

''Just delayed from checking in at [Heathrow] because I'm apparently 'inhibited' - requiring approval from Australia House … to travel,'' Rhodes Scholar and Australian citizen Jennifer Robinson tweeted about 8am yesterday, Australian time.

Lawyer Jennifer Robinson acted for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange until late last year. Credit:Reuters

Before staff were able to call the Australian embassy, for some unexplained reason the situation changed on the computer and Ms Robinson was allowed to fly.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Ms Robinson was not on any Australian travel watchlist and the matter had nothing to do with the Australian government.