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Rights and Freedoms

Speak up out of respect for rights and culture

To advance human rights we need to promote a culture of respect for everyone exercising their choice and freedoms. On a day-to-day basis, human rights probably appear abstract for most Australians. The term often gets raised in discussion about how we are treating asylum seekers, or when we discuss...

Category, Opinion
Rights and Freedoms

The Forgotten Freedoms – Freedom of Religion

It is a great pleasure to deliver a Blackfriars Lecture. A few weeks ago I gave a speech to the Sydney Institute outlining the approach I plan to take to human rights as the Federal Commissioner titled ‘The Forgotten Freedoms’. In this speech I outlined that I have concerns about the key freedoms of expression, worship, association and property rights. Reasserting them will be the focus of my tenure as Human Rights Commissioner.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Free speech is best medicine for the bigotry disease

THE proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act provide the basis for correcting the legal limits of free speech, ­promoting pluralism, opposing reprehensible racism and highlighting the importance of ­responsibility. Arguably the most important change is assessing an 18C violation based on...

Category, Opinion
Rights and Freedoms

President Speech: Religion in the public square

I would like to begin today by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri peoples, and pay my respect to their elders, past and present.

Category, Speech
Race Discrimination

Launch of Freedom of Religion and Belief in the 21st Century

I also acknowledge colleagues from government, and from non-government organisations, including from a wide range of churches and faith-based organisations. And particularly can I acknowledge colleagues from the Australian Multicultural Foundation, Hass Dellal and Athalia Zwartz, and Professors Gary Bouma and Des Cahill, as the authors of the report we are receiving and launching today.

Category, Speech

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