Eliminating Discrimination and Harassment from your workplace: Pru Goward (2005)
Employee Assistance Professionals Association of Australia (EAPA), Wesley Conference Centre, Green Room, 200 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000, Tuesday 3 May 2005
Employee Assistance Professionals Association of Australia (EAPA), Wesley Conference Centre, Green Room, 200 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000, Tuesday 3 May 2005
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respect to their elders past and present.
It is a particular pleasure for me to have been invited here today to launch the City of Dandenong's Diversity Action Plan. Allow me a few moments to explain why.
The creation of Ausyouth is an initiative that clearly picks up on the real-life needs of today's youth, an initiative that has the potential to foster the building blocks of a progressive caring society, and from a human rights perspective, it's an initiative that addresses some of Australia's obligations with respect to international instruments, to which we as a nation are committed.
Let me preface my remarks today with the assertion that, generally speaking, Australia has a strong and proud record on human rights. The Australian Government is formally committed to supporting the universal observance of human rights both at home and abroad saying that this policy helps to achieve a more stable and just international order, which benefits the security and prosperity of everyone. In this statement, the Government links peace to the observance of human rights, a topic to which I shall return.
In reality however rural and regional Australia is a significant employer of Australian women, and the two million women in regional and rural Australia contribute to their local communities and local economies while caring for their families. Certainly the women of Shepparton yesterday did not believe work-life balance was easy in Shepparton.
Let me join those who have spoken before me in acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I pay my respects to their elders past and present, and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders we have with us tonight.
To be honest, this is a rare occasion for me. Much of my career has been spent in the monastic cells of academic institutions teaching the young about different legal systems; their origins and growth, their strengths and weaknesses. Your world - the world of business and industry, finances, profit and loss, sales and marketing - is largely foreign to me in a practical sense.
May I also congratulate the organisers for convening this important Forum. We know that rates of diabetes among indigenous peoples across the globe, and in Australia, are extremely high and require specific, focused attention. And we also know that we need action urgently.
Paid maternity leave: Opting for a future Valuing Parenthood: Paid Maternity Leave - Interim Options Paper Launch. Speech by Pru Goward, Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, 18 April 2002. Thank you for being here today in what I trust will be the beginning of an informed and fair-minded public...
When I was invited to give this address, my first thought was to talk about unlawful discrimination in the context of higher education and, in particular, disability discrimination.
Thank you Professor Lansbury, and thank you to Marian and the Women and Work Research Group for organising today’s forum. Thank you also to our panellists – Dr Lyn Craig, Petra Stirling, and John Murray.
To some of you the role of The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) in the industrial relations scene in Australia will be well known, others of you may be wondering why a representative of a human rights body would be speaking on this occasion. I propose therefore to briefly summarise HREOC's role in the administration of federal anti-discrimination law, including its complaint handling function, and to give some recent statistics.
Good morning friends, supporters, Dr’s Peter Toyne and Lester-Irabinna Rigney and distinguished guests. I would also like to acknowledge my Indigenous sisters and brothers who have travelled here to be with us and to share your experiences and stories.
Review a speech about human rights, democracy and women's choices delivered by former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Pru Goward in Newcastle in 2002.
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