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This was the keynote address at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies conference, 2021. Good morning everyone. I acknowledge the Kaurna peoples whose lands we gather on for this conference—I pay my respects to your elders, past, present and emerging. I also acknowledge all our peoples who have come from countries—First Nations—from across this vast…

The Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins delivered the keynote address at the Women in Film and TV NSW - Safer Workplaces Strategies forum. Good morning everyone. I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which you meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and paying my respects to their elders past and present. I also pay my respects to the…

I am honoured to have been invited to address you this evening on this beautiful campus of the Flinders University of South Australia. Let me begin my address by recalling that, long before the establishment of this prestigious place of learning in the European tradition, there was learning of another tradition here; the learning of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains.I would like to…

A little over a month ago, I started as the new President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, ending my time as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia.

by President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission John von Doussa QC Human Rights Medal and Awards Ceremony Sheraton on the Park Hotel, Sydney

Debates about a charter of rights are often monopolised by the contentious issue of the proper role of the courts. While this is undoubtedly an important question, it overlooks the impact a charter would have on the role of Parliament as a guardian of rights of freedoms.

I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, and pay respect to their elders.

HREOC is a statutory body independent of government. While our main function is to promote an understanding and acceptance of human rights in Australia, we are also charged with the responsibilities of investigating, and attempting to conciliate complaints of unlawful discrimination under the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Disability Discrimination…

This session focuses primarily on relationships between National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI’s) and the Judiciary, but as well touches on their relationship with officers of the executive government such as the Attorney-General. One of the stated aims of this session is to assess how the independent institutions of the judiciary and NHRI’s can mutually and independently strengthen…

To be honest, this is a rare occasion for me. Much of my career has been spent in the monastic cells of academic institutions teaching the young about different legal systems; their origins and growth, their strengths and weaknesses. Your world - the world of business and industry, finances, profit and loss, sales and marketing - is largely foreign to me in a practical sense.

What I will talk about today is the way in which the Racial Discrimination Act (‘the RDA’) has been used by Aboriginal people to seek a remedy for the injustice of underpayment of wages.