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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Essentials for Social Justice: The Future

I begin by paying my respects to the Kaurna peoples, the traditional owners of the land where we gather today, I pay my respects to your elders, to the ancestors and to those who have come before us, And thank you, for your generous welcome to country for all of us.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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Thank you Tom, for inviting me to speak today. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, and thank Uncle Charlie for his generous welcome to country.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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The story in my hand is the saddest of all stories. It is the story of children taken from their mothers and fathers and families. It is the story of mothers and fathers and families who lost the most precious thing in their lives. Their children.

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Burdekin: NATIONAL INQUIRY

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the launch of the report of the national inquiry into the human rights of people with mental illness. This report is the result of extensive research; public hearings in all States and Territories; and oral evidence and written submissions from over 1300 witnesses. I have been extremely fortunate to have the assistance of two commissioners with a long standing interest in the area of mental health - Dame Margaret Guilfoyle and Mr David Hall.

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Education and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Des English Memorial Lecture

On 30 March 2007 I was waxing lyrical to my computer screen in Sydney. My words were not quite the same, but they had equal passion and determination. At 1.40 a.m. on that Saturday morning Sydney time, I was having a few glasses of wine and watching Australia line up with 80 other countries at the United Nations (UN) in New York, to sign that same Convention on the first day it was open for signature—via podcast to my computer screen. It was Friday New York time.

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Opportunity knocks

I follow this custom wherever I go to speak in public. I think recognising Australia ' s indigenous peoples and their prior ownership of this land in this way is more than just good manners. It is an important part of recognising our diversity as a nation.

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Meeting with National Disability Advisory Council

You might have noticed that somehow governments never seem to want the same long term commitment from Human Rights Commissioners. In fact, they often seem quite happy to see us arrive at the end of a term of office ... .

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Human rights for people with intellectual disabilities in Australia: where to from here?

I will not speak in detail about human rights conventions and disability because this topic is addressed by my co-speaker in this session, Karl Lachwitz. I will say though that international human rights law and human rights debate has not yet acknowledged adequately or sufficiently clearly that people with a disability are part of what the "human" in human rights means. Equally, there has not always been enough attention to human rights dimensions in disability discourse.

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

The right to belong

I have called this paper "the right to belong", and it is with this idea that I wish to begin my address to you this afternoon, before discussing in more detail the current state of the law in relation to disability discrimination.

Category, Speech
Sex Discrimination

Paid maternity leave: Working for women

Because in addition to being integral members of the workforce, women are the bearers of and remain the primary carers for children. So if it isn't working for her then it isn't working for her family, her partner, her children and babies.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Rights for all: Building inclusive communities for all generations Chris Sidoti (1999)

Thank you to the Public Health Association for inviting me to deliver the Sax Oration this year. I am honoured to follow so many distinguished speakers who have delivered the oration over the years. I am honoured too to be able to commemorate the work of Sidney Sax, one of the most significant people shaping health care policy and practice in Australia.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

President Speech: Promoting Women in Leadership

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.

Category, Speech

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