The freedom wars and the future of human rights in Australia
Address to the National Press Club, Canberra
Address to the National Press Club, Canberra
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today amongst those of you who aspire to promote equality and social justice.
Curtin Public Policy Forum
District and County Courts of Australia and New Zealand Conference.
NSW Police Seminar, University of Western Sydney
Opening plenary session of 5th SNAICC National Conference - For Our Children: Living and Learning Together
It’s fantastic to be amongst so many people committed to the wellbeing of Australia’s children. I’m thrilled to have been invited today by Prue Warrilow, Brian Babington and Families Australia and feel honoured to deliver the Berry Street Childhood Institute Families Australia Oration as my first speaking engagement as inaugural National Children’s Commissioner.
I am a Gangulu person from the Dawson Valley in Central Queensland and when I speak to my Elders, they ask me to pass on my salutations to the Traditional Owners of the land I visit for their continued fight for their country and their culture.
I am a Gangulu person from the Dawson Valley in Central Queensland and when I speak to my Elders, they ask me to pass on my salutations to the Traditional Owners of the land I visit for their continued fight for their country and their culture.
May I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and the Darug language group. I also pay my respects to all Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders present today.
I would like to begin by acknowledging all the traditional owners of the land where we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. Thank you Megan Davis for your welcome and for inviting me to be here today.
I would like to thank ACROD for inviting me to deliver the Kenneth Jenkins Oration; both because I regard it as a privilege and because it gives me the opportunity to address a gathering of the key people in the disability field at an important time in the work of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Human rights are said to be universal and indivisible. This paper explores how far that universality introduces human rights principles into the functions and work of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The answer, I think, could be “further than you realise”.
I also want to make mention of the fact that we are 130kn south west of an area of great significance to the Aboriginal communities of western NSW, which is now called Mutawintji National Park - the first park to be handed back to its Traditional Owners under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act in 1998. [1] The caves and overhangs in the park have been transformed into expansive galleries of Aboriginal rock art, and it comes as no surprise that they have formed the backdrop for ceremonies for at least 8,000 years.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Elliott Johnston Tribute Lecture
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