News

Commission – General

H R Law Masterclass: Federal Anti-discrimination Law in an Employment Context: recent developments, likely future directions and the lessons from the past

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.

Commission – General

Opening statement by Commission President, Catherine Branson QC to the Joint Select Committee on Australia's Immigration Detention Network

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee this afternoon. The Australian Human Rights Commission welcomes the opportunity to comment on Australia's immigration detention system in this forum.

Commission – General

President Speech: Strengthening Human Rights Education in the National School Curriculum

I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.

Commission – General

Human Rights and Human Security

Firstly, I must applaud Amnesty International Australia’s campaign to secure a fair trial for David Hicks. I hope you take some heart from the recent US Supreme Court ruling that the military commissions set up to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are illegal and must be abandoned.

Commission – General

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First of all I'd like to thank you all for coming to here today. It is timely that we meet the day before Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations arrives in Australia. It is from the United Nations that the international obligations we are discussing today are sourced.

Commission – General

Launch of the Social Justice and Native Title Reports 2008

President speech: Launch of the Social Justice and Native Title Reports 2008 11.00am-1.00pm, 4 May 2009 Turner Hall, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW Audio of Speech in mp3 format [6.88MB] Introduction The Hon Cathy Branson QC, President, Australian Human Rights Commission I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal...

Commission – General

Why we need an Australian Bill of Rights - a Joint Forum

The first is that HREOC has been suggesting for a considerable time that there needs to be renewed public debate on whether Australia should have a charter of human rights of some sort. It seems that the launch of the New Matilda campaign will give momentum to such a debate. A lot has changed, both nationally and internationally since the unsuccessful attempts of the 1970s and the 1980s to interest Australians in a bill of rights. As is so often said, Australia has now become the only major Western democracy that does not have a bill of rights.

Commission – General

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I am very pleased to have been asked to open the 9th Conference of the International Student Advisers Network of Australia (ISANA). I am pleased to welcome those who come from abroad, to exchange ideas and thoughts with a variety of people and across a range of disciplines and institutions.

Commission – General

Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2020

The Australian Human Rights Commission makes this submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) in relation to its Review of the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2020 (Cth) (the Bill) introduced by the Australian Government.

Commission – General

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I also thank Professor Barry Brook for his survey of the latest scientific assessments and forecasts on the impact of climate change on our planet. They are indeed alarming. The fact of climate change, and the rate of change, has become all too clear, even if there are still sceptics that wish to debate the causes. Our title reference to “Catastrophic Impacts” seems fully justified.

Commission – General

President speech: ‘A Human Rights Act for Australia’ - Dame Roma Mitchell Memorial Luncheon

I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Commission – General

National Legal Aid Best practice Conference

I would like to acknowledge the Kaurna People, the traditional owners of the land on which we stand and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.

Commission – General

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I accepted the invitation to make this Oration and come here tonight with some trepidation: The person being honoured tonight, Dame Roma Mitchell, was the first federal Human Rights Commissioner and this is the territory that has known the powers of persuasion, conviction and commitment of the best human rights minds in the country, including Dame Roma Mitchell herself. Yet I reminded myself that we are both cultivators in the same vineyard, albeit that I both lagged behind her and sought to learn from her. My work today is made easier by the clear and decisive path cut out by my predecessor.