Commission – General
Amongst all this expertise, it is fair to ask why is the President of the national human rights commission – and particularly a President who has only fairly recently commenced in this role - here presenting the keynote speech to such a conference?
Disability Rights
Thank you Anne-Mason and Ruth for this invitation to address your AGM on health access issues, and in particular access to height adjustable examination beds in primary health care facilities.
Disability Rights
One day during the Christmas school holidays, my nine-year-old daughter came into the loungeroom, where I was relaxing with a glass of Scotch, and said: "Dad, the window won't pop up -- you have to come and fix it".
Disability Rights
I always like to begin my presentations with a humorous anecdote or joke of some kind. For one thing, it lets me know that someone is actually listening, and it also lulls the audience into a false sense of security for the dry parts to follow. So as part of my preparation for this morning's discussion of disability discrimination law in Australia, I decided to find an answer to the important question, "how many audiologists does it take to change a lightbulb". Fortunately there is a website devoted to lightbulb jokes, and so I duly consulted it.
Disability Rights
Graeme Innes AM Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Physical Disability Council of Australia 20 November 2000
Rights and Freedoms
I'm very pleased to be speaking to you today. I'm especially encouraged that so many young people have put aside a weekend to think about, and talk about, human rights.
Rights and Freedoms
Thank you, Megan McNichol, conference organisers and the Isolated Children's Parents' Association for inviting me to speak at your annual federal conference today.
Commission – General
Thank you for inviting me here today, to speak about a topic which in my view receives too little attention yet is one of critical importance not only to the way we live but to the kind of society we live in – the topic of human rights education.
Disability Rights
This page provides access to over 200 speeches and papers on disability issues from members (current and past) and senior staff of the Australian Human Rights Commission. All major speeches since 2000 are included, as well as a selection of earlier speeches and papers as far back as 1989.
Disability Rights
To set the scene for my presentation this afternoon, I want to share two autobiographical fragments with you, both of them having to do with my experience at university.
Disability Rights
I always enjoy receiving an invitation from Victoria to talk about Action Plans because I know that Victoria is a leader in the country in terms of organisational commitment to developing Action Plans.
Disability Rights
I was around as head of the then Disability Advisory Council of Australia back in the late 80s and early 90s when ACROD and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission worked together on a discussion paper and consultation process to identify and pursue areas of increased need for human rights protection for people with disabilities.
Disability Rights
There is substantial attention in the international community being directed at present to the human rights of people with disabilities. An international convention on human rights and disability is being actively considered through the United Nations system. I would have been attending a regional meeting in Beijing in April this year as part of this process but this was cancelled because of the SARS outbreak.
Disability Rights
Almost every day there seems to be some new development in information and communications technology. Technologies which did not exist a few years ago are now worth many billions of dollars each year in economic activity.
Disability Rights
Paper delivered by Elizabeth Hastings Disability Discrimination Commissioner 1993-97 at the Creating Accessible Communities Conference Fremantle, 12 November 1996
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