Security rethink can protect refugee rights (2012)
The following opinion pieces have been published by the President and Commissioners. Reproduction of the opinion pieces must include reference to where the opinion piece was originally published.
The following opinion pieces have been published by the President and Commissioners. Reproduction of the opinion pieces must include reference to where the opinion piece was originally published.
Good afternoon and thank you for being here for the launch of the Mental Health Impacts of Racial Discrimination in Victorian Aboriginal Communities Report. And I am proud to be launching this Report on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, and I pay my respect to elders both past and present.
I start by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, the traditional owners of the land upon which we meet. I pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.
It is with respect and gratitude that I acknowledge that we sit today on the lands of the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation. Thank you to Michael West for your generous welcome to country on behalf of the Gadigal people.
Let me begin by acknowledging and paying my respects to the Traditional Owners of the place upon which we sit and talk tonight. I honour your Elders that have come before us, those that are here tonight and I await in optimistic anticipation for those Elders who are yet to emerge.
I would like to begin this evening by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Awabakal People. I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
I also particularly acknowledge all of my sisters and brothers with disability, and those of you who have been fellow-travellers in the cause of advocating the rights of people with disability in the past, present and future. That should pretty much cover off everyone in the room.
But first let me acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I pay my deepest respects to their elders both past and present.
It's true of almost everything in life - clothes, relationships, jobs, etc … one size does not fit all.
On behalf of my Elders I salute Gadigal Elders, both past and present, for their continued struggle for country and culture here in the place where our colonisation began.
Co-chairs of the Close the Gap Campaign for Indigenous Health Equality - Dr Tom Calma, National Coordinator Tacking Indigenous Smoking, and Mr Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
I would like to begin by saying how delighted I am to be here speaking this evening about the work of the Australian Human Rights Commission. I hope also to learn more about the protection of human rights in Japan and about your proposal for a national human rights institution in Japan. This is my first time to Japan and I am thrilled to be here. I am grateful for all the work that has gone into the preparation for this session and for my visit. And I thank those who have looked after me so well since I arrived in your country.
[1] According to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) – or living heritage – is the mainspring of our cultural diversity and its maintenance a guarantee for continuing creativity. It is defined as follows: Intangible Cultural Heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has this week lodged its submission with the National Human Rights Consultation, recommending that Australia implements a human rights act.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
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