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Rights and Freedoms

Addressing human rights concerns and fostering greater understanding and protection of human rights in Australia

It's great to be here today. I can't think of a better time to be taking stock of developments in human rights law and policy in Australia, or a better place to be doing this than Victoria. As a Sydney-sider I have to admit I haven't always been fully appreciative of the number plates down here, which proclaim: ‘Victoria: The Place to Be!’ But there's no doubt that Victoria is the place to be right now, when it comes to human rights developments.

Rights and Freedoms

Mornington Peninsula Shire Conference

Firstly I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand and by so doing remind ourselves that Australia's cultural traditions stretch back many thousands of years.

Rights and Freedoms

The human rights of older Australians in the bush: Chris Sidoti

I am very pleased to be here tonight at the Rural Ageing Seminar dinner. Thank you, to Dame Roma and the Rural Ageing Seminar Reference Group, for inviting me to attend an event that (for once) takes place where it counts - in rural South Australia.

Commission – General

President Speech: The protection of rights and its positive impact on well-being (2010)

I would like to begin today by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation of peoples and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Commission – General

Envisaging a Fairer Australia: Everyone, Everywhere, Everyday

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Kaurna peoples on whose land we meet this evening. I also thank Katrina Power for her warm welcome to country.

Commission – General

Past Achievements and Future Strategies in Educating the Public about Human Rights

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.

Commission – General

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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.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Tobacco control and closing the gap

Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Chair of the Close the Gap Steering Committee for Indigenous Health Equality

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Essentials for Social Justice: Sorry

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and National Race Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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I’m sorry that I can’t be with you in person to deliver these remarks, but through my voice for the day, Mr Glenn Pearson, I am very pleased to be invited to talk about my perspectives on the new arrangements in Indigenous affairs. Glenn – I owe you one!

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Launch of the Social Justice Report 2003 and Native Title Report 2003

I am speaking on behalf of Dr William Jonas, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. Dr Jonas is unable to be here today, with doctors having advised him he is not able to fly at this time due to a recurring illness. Dr Jonas sends his apologies and has asked that I deliver this speech on his behalf. He has asked me to express to you his appreciation for attending today and to thank Parry Agius and Lowitja O'Donoghue for agreeing to speak at this launch.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Good house, good clinic and being able to buy a feed

Mick Dodson, the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner said in his First Report that "A decent standard of health and a life expectancy equivalent to others is an entitlement. Social justice is not primarily a matter of the relief of suffering. It is a matter of the fulfilment of a responsibility. To draw this distinction is not to deny that the facts by themselves speak out for a remedy. Nor is it to deny that compassion is a proper response. But compassion is an insufficient foundation for the delivery of rights".

Disability Rights

Equal employment opportunity for people with disabilities: how to move from the theoretical to the actual

I congratulate EOPHEA for organising this discussion. Although, of course, your focus is primarily on employment in the university environment, the conference program is clearly designed to address equal opportunity issues of much more general significance. I have approached my own paper in the same spirit: I hope it will be particularly relevant in your own context as equity practitioners in higher education, but I have taken the opportunity to raise issues of wider relevance.

Disability Rights

Innes: Launch of City of Sydney Inclusion (Disability) Action Plan

Thank you, Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Hoff for the invitation to participate in this early celebration of International Day of People with a Disability and the launch of the City of Sydney Inclusion Action Plan .

Disability Rights

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My congratulations to the organisers for organising this forum and opportunity to discuss a potential mechanism to protect the rights of people with mental illness and enhance the delivery of mental health care.