THE under-siege president of Australia’s human rights watchdog has been honoured for her advocacy, amid calls for her resignation.

Gillian Triggs was awarded the Sir Ron Wilson Human Rights Award by the Australian Council for International Development in recognition of her outstanding contribution to advancing human rights.

“She has given voice to the most marginalised and kept human rights at the centre of public and political debate,” ACFID president Sam Mostyn said.

Ms Mostyn cited the commissioner’s focus on issues such as the inquiry into children in immigration detention.

“Her work to defend human rights in principle and her focus on issues such as the inquiry into children in detention has been critical,” Ms Mostyn said.

“More than ever, we need advocates like Professor Triggs.”

Not everyone is enamoured by the commissioner’s performance in the job.

Prof Triggs delayed the inquiry until after the 2013 election following discussions with two Labor immigration ministers, a move that angered the new Coalition government.

Triggs under fire from Coalition Triggs under fire from Coalition

Coalition ministers have accused her of playing politics and refused to express confidence in her as she raises concerns about rights abuses, especially in the immigration detention system.

Some Turnbull government MPs have suggested she should be replaced as president of the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Triggs also stands accused of misleading the Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee when she blamed journalists for manufacturing quotes and quoting her out of context.

She was quizzed about comments to The Saturday Paper in which she fumed at “seriously ill-informed and uneducated” politicians questioning her work.

She later backed away from the evidence she gave to the parliamentary committee.