Human rights education: realising the vision of social justice
Speech by Catherine Branson, former president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, delivered as part of the Centre for Research in Education Annual Oration in 2011.
Speech by Catherine Branson, former president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, delivered as part of the Centre for Research in Education Annual Oration in 2011.
I am honoured and delighted to be here to deliver the Kenneth Jenkins Oration. My participation continues the involvement of members of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission with this event.
In the second century AD, Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, thanked one of his brothers for teaching him to value "the conception of the state with one law for all, based upon individual equality and freedom of speech, and of a sovereignty which prizes above all things the liberty of the subject."1
I would like to begin by also 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. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the inspirational work of so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who have been agents of change, be they barristers, lawyers, judges, litigants or community advocates.
The theme of this Conference - Human Rights and Equality for Women in the 21st Century - is rich fare for any time of the day. It calls for speculation about the future and assessment of the past; it invites fresh perspectives and challenges the imagination; it asks for re-examination of motives and goals.
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