Rights and Freedoms
Let me start by saying that Australia is a culturally diverse society with 23% of Australians being born overseas. Amongst others, there is a sizeable Japanese community and, as you may hear from my accent, I myself was born in Poland.
Commission – General
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.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I begin by paying my respects to the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land where we gather today. I pay my respects to your elders, to the ancestors, and to those who have come before us.
Commission – General
Amongst all this expertise, it is fair to ask why is the President of the national human rights commission – and particularly a President who has only fairly recently commenced in this role - here presenting the keynote speech to such a conference?
Disability Rights
20 years ago today Kay Cottee sailed into Sydney Harbour, after spending 189 days as the first Australian, and the first woman, to circumnavigate the globe solo. As a sailor myself, I truly appreciate this epic achievement. When she set foot on land, she was asked how it felt to have conquered a man's world. "I was brought up to believe there is no such thing as a man's world or a woman's world" she said, "its everyone's world."
Disability Rights
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
Paper delivered by Elizabeth Hastings Disability Discrimination Commissioner 1993-97 at the Creating Accessible Communities Conference Fremantle, 12 November 1996
Business and Human Rights
In our new strategic plan we commit to 'motivating big business to incorporate human rights into their everyday business practice'.
Commission – General
I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri people, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
Commission – General
I would like to begin by thanking the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) for inviting me to address you today, and to thank you for your attendance.
Disability Rights
Attorney-General, conference delegates. Before I commence my presentation today I would like to thank Discrimination Alert and Occupational Health News for organising this very important forum to discuss recent changes in law and policy and the impact of these changes on equal employment opportunities for Australians and health and safety in our workplaces.
Disability Rights
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. Can I begin by apologising for the Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Sev Ozdowski. Sev has been following this inquiry very closely but had arranged to be away this week before the schedule for these hearings was settled.
Sex Discrimination
We all know why we're here today. You're here because men aren't seeing enough of their children, that after divorce they're lone fathers if they're lucky and cheque books on legs if things turn out badly. Sadly, there are some men who just disappear as dads altogether.
Rights and Freedoms
The promotion of human rights and education go hand in hand. At the international level human rights education is an essential function of the work of the UN and its many agencies. And it is fundamental to the work of a National Human Rights Commission.
Commission – General
I speak to you now, not as the Chancellor of this University, but as the President of Australia’s national Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
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