Graduation Address
I speak to you now, not as the Chancellor of this University, but as the President of Australia’s national Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
I speak to you now, not as the Chancellor of this University, but as the President of Australia’s national Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Before I commence, on behalf of HREOC, I would like to thank ACE for the opportunity to discuss a national disability employment strategy and importantly the opportunity for multiple perspectives to be presented here today.
First, may I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.
I would like to begin by thanking the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) for inviting me to address you today, and thank Margaret Boylan (Regional Director, APS Commission, SA/NT) for her warm welcome.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and National Race Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Allow me to commence by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Wallumattagal clan of the Eora peoples. Let me also acknowledge my fellow speakers, as well as other distinguished guests and friends.
Over the past year, the Human Rights Commission has enjoyed a very productive relationship with Deafness Forum and other groups, including the Australian Association of the Deaf, and Media Access Australia . We've worked on a number of projects: TV, DVD and Cinema captioning, as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of people with Disability.
I accept with gratitude the honorary doctorate bestowed upon me by the RMIT University - a great University established in 1881 to serve Melbourne's "working men".
In keeping with the theme of today's awards, I want to welcome you all here to celebrate our local champions, many of whom are with us as nominees for the 2004 Human Rights Medal and Human Rights Awards.
The Hon Catherine Branson was President of the Australian Human Rights Commission from 7 August 2008 - 29 July 2012. Click here to access her biography.
In addition to this year's Human Rights Awards, to be announced later today, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has decided to confer an award to mark ten years of achievements under the Disability Discrimination Act.
We meet today on the lands of the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation. On behalf of the Australian Human Rights Commission I pay my respect to their elders past and present.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Whilst planning this speech, I was thinking that it was a long time since the first time that I addressed an NDS (then Acrod) conference. I was asked to give the Kenneth Jenkins memorial oration at the Acrod conference in the early 80s, as the first President of DPI Australia. The speech then was just the type that you would expect from the head of an advocacy organisation finding its feet, to the conference of the service provision organisation. It was brash, assertive and demanding.
I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. It's almost 18 months since we launched the Same-Sex: Same Entitlements National Inquiry. In that time, we have travelled around Australia to hear, first hand, about the impact of discriminatory laws on same-sex couples, and their children. We received 680 written submissions from across Australia and met with more than 500 people. The Inquiry put federal laws under the human rights microscope.
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.
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