News

Rights and Freedoms

ACFID Awards Night Presentation: Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM (2005)

I would like to commence my brief remarks tonight by acknowledging the success of the member organizations of ACFID. Clearly any organization whose constituent members in 2004 raised $487.4 million, or around 70%, annually of their funds, from the public with only about 14% coming from the government via AusAID is a very effective one indeed. This statistic is also vitally important when one considers the ramifications of how best to engage in constructive policy dialogue with federal governments of any political persuasion.

Rights and Freedoms

"Monitoring Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: challenges for Australia: Dr Sev Ozdowski (2002)

Thank you Mr Wishardt for your invitation and kind introduction. I would like also to acknowledge Ms Wendy McCarthy, under whose stewardship PLAN is sure to go from strength to strength.

Commission – General

Australian Red Cross National Conference

I wish to start today by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we are meeting. On behalf of the Australian Human Rights Commission, I pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Commission – General

An update on the work of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC)

I would like to acknowledge the Larrakia people on whose traditional land we meet today. I would also like to thank the Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commission for hosting this event at such short notice. What I plan to do today is to talk briefly about a few of the issues which are currently on HREOC’s agenda. The first issue is HREOC’s Same-Sex Same Entitlements Inquiry.

Commission – General

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The Annual Mitchell Oration is held as a tribute to Dame Roma’s lifelong efforts to improve the respect in Australia for human rights, and to counter discrimination experienced by many people, especially women, members of Indigenous communities, and of ethnic minorities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Human Rights and Reconciliation

Thank you to Andrea Durbach and the Australian Human Rights Centre for the invitation to speak tonight, and also to Amber Rowe for her organisation of this event.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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I would like to begin by acknowledging all the traditional owners of the land where we meet, the Ngunawal Ngambri people. Thank you Matilda House for your welcome and for joining us here today. It is a pleasure to jointly address the Press Club with Fred Chaney from Reconciliation Australia. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and Reconciliation Australia have a history of working in partnership together.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Ending violence in Indigenous communities Forum

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

LAUNCH OF THE NATIVE TITLE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTS

The two reports launched in Adelaide today provide a scorecard on how Australian governments are meeting their obligations to ensure that Australia's Indigenous peoples can fully exercise their rights and interests.

Disability Rights

Presentation to Accessible Arts Workshop

George Bernard Shaw once said that the only alternative to torture in life is art. I'm not sure that you could my presentation this morning art, but I do hope it isn't torture.

Disability Rights

DDA Transport Standards: HREOC'S Role

Probably most of us here are parents, and we all have dreams for our children. One of my dreams for my 18-year-old son and his girl friend is that they will be able to participate in society in the same way as everyone else.

Disability Rights

Speech to Employers Network on Disability International Day of People with Disability cocktail party (2009)

In the United States, 54 years ago today, Rosa Parks was arrested. Rosa Parks was a black woman, arrested for refusing to sit at the back of a bus. It's appalling to think this occurred. It's even more appalling that 54 years later in Australia, many people with disability can't even get on the bus.

Disability Rights

Accessible Procurement: A Market Driven Approach Which Benefits All Australians

Some of you might recall media coverage regarding a young man undergoing cancer treatment who was required to attend a job capacity assessment the day he got out of hospital, to establish his entitlement to disability support payments.

Disability Rights

Focusing on Futures: Employment and Disability

I follow this custom wherever I go to speak in public. I think recognising Australia 's indigenous peoples and their prior ownership of this land in this way is more than just good manners. It is an important part of recognising our diversity as a nation.

Age Discrimination

Participation in Public Life and Decision-Making Processes

Address by Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald: Intervention of the Australian Human Rights Commission to 14th session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing. Delivered on 23 May 2024.