News

Disability Rights

Meeting with Deafness Forum of Australia

Thank you for the opportunity to meet today. I want to take a few minutes to run through some current areas of work which may be of particular interest to you.

Disability Rights

Deafness Forum Hearing Access Seminar

I always like to begin my presentations with a humorous anecdote or joke of some kind. For one thing, it lets me know that someone is actually listening, and it also lulls the audience into a false sense of security for the dry parts to follow. So as part of my preparation for this morning's discussion of disability discrimination law in Australia, I decided to find an answer to the important question, "how many audiologists does it take to change a lightbulb". Fortunately there is a website devoted to lightbulb jokes, and so I duly consulted it.

Disability Rights

Address to Blind Citizens Australia Convention 1999

Graeme Innes AM Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 15 October 1999 Note: This is the full version of Deputy Commissioner Innes' paper, which was presented in summary form at the convention for reasons of time.

Commission – General

President speech: Mandatory immigration detention of children in Australia: how far have we come and where to from here? (2010)

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respect to their elders past and present.

Disability Rights

DEAFNESS FORUM OF AUSTRALIA 2005 CAPTIONING AWARDS

Allow me to begin by also acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to their elders both past and present.

Disability Rights

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But people with disability for the most part were either invisible within mainstream education, or invisible because they were excluded and segregated off somewhere else.

Disability Rights

International Day of People with Disabilities Keynote Speech

Thanks for the chance to speak with you today. As you might guess, in my role as Disability Discrimination Commissioner, I receive many invitations to speak at functions on the international day. One of the reasons I chose this invitation is because of the really important role that Local Government plays in the lives of all Australians. It deals with the issues that are in your face- and I know, because until two years ago I was a Councillor on Ku-Ring-Gai Council.

Disability Rights

Advancing human rights of children and young people with disabilities

I was around as head of the then Disability Advisory Council of Australia back in the late 80s and early 90s when ACROD and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission worked together on a discussion paper and consultation process to identify and pursue areas of increased need for human rights protection for people with disabilities.

Disability Rights

Presentation to Productivity Commission DDA review hearing

We would like to begin by emphasising the limited role of discrimination law - that is, we agree to some extent with comments by ACCI that equality cannot be achieved solely by providing stronger antidiscrimination legal provisions.

Disability Rights

Presentation to the NSW Subcommittee of the Australian Braille Authority

Have you ever stopped to think about all the things that we take for granted? When you're wandering through the breakfast cereal isle at the supermarket, for example, do you ever wonder whether Uncle Toby really was? If so, was he related to Sara Lee? Were Nana's apple pies originally made by Granny Smith? It's not so much that familiarity breeds contempt as that it lulls us into a state of mind where we no longer feel the need to question or even test our assumptions and presumptions.

Disability Rights

Presentation to Queensland Taxi Council forum

Taxis are not subject to the same requirements as other modes, because at least in 1995-96 when drafting the standards it was thought that requiring 100% taxi fleet accessibility would be too onerous given

Disability Rights

Access to premises – nearly there? (2009)

Since the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) came into force in March 1993 complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission and State/Territory anti-discrimination agencies have shown that while a building might meet the requirements of building law it could still be the subject of a successful complaint under anti-discrimination law.

Disability Rights

TEDICORE Think Tank on Accessible Mobile Telecommunications

Read a speech about the importance of access to mobile telecommunications for people with a disability given by the Commission at the TEDICORE Think Tank.

Disability Rights

Setting an Agenda for Disability and Tourism Research

While there is no section in the Disability Discrimination Act titled "Tourism" every aspect of the development, management and delivery of tourist services are covered by one or more provision within the DDA.

Disability Rights

Telstra / Diversity at work forum

I am sure I am not the first person to say it, but it seems to me that there are particularly important reasons for a telecommunications company such as Telstra to be interested in diversity.