Commission – General
Speech to the annual Human Rights Dinner, co-hosted by Justice Connect and the Human Rights Law Centre. Draft: check against delivery Thank you for your welcome tonight. Acknowledgement of country I am honored to be a patron of Justice Connect that has so successfully aligned probono lawyers with...
Race Discrimination
In October 1975, at a ceremony for the proclamation of the Racial Discrimination Act, then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam described the legislation as ‘a historic measure’, which aimed to ‘entrench new attitudes of tolerance and understanding in the hearts and minds of the people’.(1) The Act was...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Thank you Sue for your kind introduction and Simon (Forrest) can I acknowledge your warm welcome and can I reciprocate by paying my respects to the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, the traditional owners of the place that is now known as Perth. I thank you for allowing me on your country. I salute the Elders who are here today, those that have gone before us, and those who are yet to come.
Rights and Freedoms
Introduction Thank you. It is a great pleasure to attend the Australian Libertarian Society’s Third Friedman Conference. I’d like to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of Tim Andrews and John Humphrey for bringing this important conference together. I’d also like to acknowledge the previous speaker...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
The long running, if muted, struggle between the High Court of Australia and the Government over refugees recalls a bitter legal battle in the early 17th century. Sir Edward Coke, the first Lord Chief Justice of England, defied King James 1 by asserting the supremacy of the common law over the...
Rights and Freedoms
Thank you for coming. It's a great pleasure to launch the report from our Rights and Responsibilities Consultation. Like my Commissioner colleagues, the role of Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner is to look at systemic public policy issues. No Commissioner investigates complaints from the public...
Rights and Freedoms
The Isabelle Lake Memorial Lecture is an initiative of the Equal Opportunity Commission of Western Australia in partnership with the University of Western Australia to honour the work and achievements of Ms Isabelle Lake. Ms Lake was a young trans rights activist, who was also a former employee of the Equal Opportunity Commission and University of Western Australia student.
Children's Rights
Good morning and thank you for the introduction. I’d like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we are meeting, and pay my respects to their elders past and present. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be here today to launch the Statement of Intent on Supporting Young...
Children's Rights
YMCA 2015 National Children’s Services Conference Moonee Valley Racing Club, Victoria Saturday 21 March 2015 Introduction Good morning and thank you for the introduction. I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Wurundjeri people of the...
Sex Discrimination
Increasing women’s workforce participation: Barriers and solutions from the G20 and beyond -Governments of Australia, Japan and Turkey Side Event, Commission on the Status of Women, 59th Session,
Rights and Freedoms
Behind human rights is the still revolutionary idea that every human being is free and equal, that individuals own their own bodies and should be free to pursue their lives, opportunities and enterprise. Human rights provide the foundation for our liberal democracy, our market economy and our civil...
LGBTIQ+
On Sunday night, the Australian Marriage Forum (AMF) broadcast an advertisement against marriage for same-sex couples. The advertisement was scheduled to be broadcast on Channels 7, 9 and SBS. The AMF advertisement argued that same-sex couples should not be able to marry under the law, because...
Commission – General
Check against delivery Keynote Address - Australian Corporate Lawyers Association Corporate Good morning and thank you for your warm introduction. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet – the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and their elders past and present...
Commission – General
(Check against delivery, 24 February 2015) The Report of the Commission’s Inquiry into the impact of immigration detention on children, The Forgotten Children, has now been tabled in Parliament and is available to the public– more than three months after it was provided to the Government. The...
Rights and Freedoms
National Press Club, Wednesday, 18th February 2015 - Why freedom matters
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