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Sex Discrimination

The Boardroom is no longer a closed shop (2009)

I have been asked why, as Sex Discrimination Commissioner, I have so strongly argued for an increase in the numbers of women in senior business leadership positions.

Category, Opinion
Commission – General

President speech: The role of culture and human rights in promoting human development

[1] According to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) – or living heritage – is the mainspring of our cultural diversity and its maintenance a guarantee for continuing creativity. It is defined as follows: Intangible Cultural Heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Can the end ever justify the means?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Indigenous health: real solutions for a chronic problem (2007)

I would like to acknowledge the Yolngu people on whose land we are today. I would also like to thank Charles Darwin University for inviting me to speak at this Garma festival where we celebrate the Yolngu culture and world view.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Addressing Indigenous health inequality within a generation – a call to action: Calma (2007)

There have been some improvements in recent years. But there is a long way to go. Indigenous peoples make gains but they are often smaller than those made by the non-Indigenous population - so the disparity in life chances remains static. In fact, there has been very little reduction in this inequality gap in Australia in the past decade.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

Prevention of human rights abuses against irregular migrants: the role of National Institutions

In the age of globalisation there has been a massive increase in international migration and, as the number of international migrants has grown, so too has the problem of irregular migration. Many states have tried to stem irregular migration by introducing new border control measures and tougher criminal sanctions for people smugglers.[1] However, while effective border control is a legitimate objective of all sovereign states, state responses to the issue of irregular migration have often failed to protect the human rights of irregular migrants.[2]

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Opportunity Knocks:Workers with a Disability

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

Category, Speech
Sex Discrimination

Peeling the inequality onion

This paper considers national and international legislative and other provisions regarding equality for women in the labour market. Australia ranks second to Sweden in terms of pay equity. It is argued that over the last two decades of global shifts to labour market decentralism and deregulation, Australian women have fared relatively well. Three fundamental reasons stand out:

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Hastings: Transition

When I was discussing this event with Jenni Huon we talked about whether the theme should be "transition" or "transitions". At the time I thought it did not matter much, but as soon as I started to write this address I realised that I am going to talk about "transition". "Transitions" (plural) suggests one discrete thing after another, a beginning, middle and end before another beginning. It is a word describing things, separate events, bits of life that can be captured, have edges put round them.

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Mason: Experience with the representative complaints procedure to date

This Representative Complaints workshop aims to develop a document on representative complaints to be used by the DDA Legal Advocacy Services, other legal services and other representatives and advocates in making representative complaints and to assist them in if the representative complaints procedure is appropriate in any particular case.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

Opinion Pieces / Articles

The following opinion pieces have been published by the President and Commissioners. Reproduction of the opinion pieces must include reference to where the opinion piece was originally published.

Category, Opinion
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

NAIDOC Week Oration to Senior NSW Police

Firstly, I’d like to 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.

Category, Speech

Pagination

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