Family Violence Prevention Legal Services
I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Noongar people, the traditional owners of the land where we meet today, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.
I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Noongar people, the traditional owners of the land where we meet today, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.
Thank you to Andrea Durbach and the Australian Human Rights Centre for the invitation to speak tonight, and also to Amber Rowe for her organisation of this event.
I begin by acknowledging the Kaurna people, the traditional owners of the land where we meet today and pay my respects to their elders. I would also like to thank the Department for the Premier and Cabinet and, in particular, Sonia Waters of the Social Inclusion unit for inviting me to speak to you today and I acknowledge my fellow speakers April and Nerida.
I would also like to thank the conference organisers for two things: – firstly for inviting me to present today, and secondly, for developing a conference on such a critical but very marginalised theme on the national stage – Indigenous policy development – and how we can all do it better.
Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, ‘The Right to Health of Indigenous Australians’ seminar, University of Melbourne Law School, 16 March 2006.
The title of this session on the conference program is 'The history of human rights in Australian law'. I have chosen to slightly change the topic for a number of reasons. The main reason is because Indigenous peoples' struggle for recognition of their human rights remains to a large extent unfulfilled. Consequently, it is not, and has never been, well reflected in Australian law. Second, because human rights continue to be poorly and rather patchily implemented in our legal system.
Visit our media centre for up to date contact details for all media enquiries.