Search results

I'm honoured to give this address. I completed my law degree at this university, and well remember the December day in 1977 when I received it. It was the culmination of four years of hard work, experiencing the pleasures and trials of campus life, and acquiring - as well as a reasonable amount of legal knowledge - a much broader appreciation of the world around me, warts and all.

Firstly, I would like to pass on apologies from the President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, The Hon. John von Doussa QC, who is presently interstate and unable to be here today. It goes without saying that he entirely endorses the purpose of this project and believes there should be more of it.

Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak at this conference. I'm very pleased to be here.  Firstly as a senior Commonwealth public servant not based in Canberra I immediately warm to this forum. The challenges of interacting with, and learning from, our colleagues are increased greatly by the fact that we aren't located in the city viewed by most commonwealth public servants as…

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.

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.

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…

Centuries ago a great many of the inhabitants of this beautiful island were wiped out by colonization and its aftermath. The disappearance of so many is a solemn reminder of the injustice done to the first peoples of this land. Their violent absence is a presence that calls for us to reflect on injustices, suffering and reconciliation in the broadest sense.  To them I pay my respects.

There are around 400 million people with disabilities in the Asia and Pacific region.  Over 40 per cent of these people are living in poverty. These people are prevented from accessing entitlements that are available to other members of their society such as health, food, education and employment.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Whilst planning this speech, I was thinking that it was a long time since the first time that I addressed an NDS (then Acrod) conference. I was asked to give the Kenneth Jenkins memorial oration at the Acrod conference in the early 80s, as the first President of DPI Australia. The speech then was just the type that you would expect from the…

ANZOA meeting Perspectives on Fairness Meeting of the Minds Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM President, Australian Human Rights Commission Acknowledgment I would like to begin my presentation by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land where I am delivering my presentation today, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay my respects to the elders, past, present and…

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