Rights and Freedoms
I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand and by so doing remind ourselves that Australia’s cultural traditions stretch back many thousands of years.
Rights and Freedoms
Thank you for inviting me to speak today. Firstly I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we are now meeting, the Gadigal people.
Rights and Freedoms
Over the past year I have travelled to about 30 communities in all States and Territories from large regional cities like Cairns and Bunbury to small towns like Bourke and Peterborough, to remote communities like Papunya and Yuendumu. Wherever I have gone I've heard of the hard work and commitment of rural nurses in their local communities.
Commission – General
I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri people, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
Commission – General
I would also like to acknowledge the Victorian Governor Professor David de Krester, and his wife Mrs Jan de Krester; Chief Justice Hon Marilyn Warren; other senior representatives of each of the three branches of the Victorian government; the many community leaders present and also the many members of the legal profession present. I feel greatly honoured to have been invited to participate today in the opening of the legal year.
Commission – General
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Ngunnawal peoples, and pay my respect to their elders past and present.
Commission – General
HREOC is a statutory body independent of government. While our main function is to promote an understanding and acceptance of human rights in Australia, we are also charged with the responsibilities of investigating, and attempting to conciliate complaints of unlawful discrimination under the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Age Discrimination Act 2004.1 HREOC also has specific responsibilities to report annually to Parliament on the enjoyment of human rights of Indigenous Australians.
Commission – General
I was first approached by one of your Committee to speak tonight on a topic which sounded an easy one: "talk about your experiences in consensus judgments and how committees of more than one function". I shall amplify why that would be an easy topic in a moment.
Commission – General
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.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I begin today by paying my respects to the Ngunnawal peoples, the peoples on whose land we come to celebrate Reconciliation week today. I am of the Gangulu 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, and thank them for their continued fight for their country and their culture. But today I also acknowledge their graciousness in sharing their lands and their culture with all those who live and visit here in the spirit of reconciliation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where we are meeting tonight, the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation. I pay my respects to your elders and to those who have come before us. And thank you to Chicka Madden for your generous welcome to country. Chicka and I spent a term together on the Board of Aboriginal Hostels.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Arrernte people – the traditional owners of the land we are meeting on today and by paying my respects to their ancestors.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I would normally begin my speech with an acknowledgement of the traditional owners – but today I need to first express my thanks to Jackie for stepping in to give me voice.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
My presentation today will focus on the content of my Native Title Report 2005. I will outline the debates about economic development on Indigenous land - the possibilities and the challenges. At the conclusion of this presentation I will provide some challenge statements about the responsibilities of service deliverers on Indigenous land.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
It is very fitting that we discuss native title in the context of a treaty just one month after a very significant native title decision, the Miriuwung Gajerrong decision [1], has been handed down by the High Court. 406 pages of honed legal reasoning cut through almost the entire history of non-Indigenous land law in Western Australia to decide the final shape that native title would take for the Miriuwung Gajerrong people.
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