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Commission – General

President speeches: Development, Security and Human Rights

This paper addresses one of the Forum themes: ‘Security and Human Rights’. Since 11 September 2001 governments around the world have responded to the threat of terrorism with tough measures to protect the lives and security of their communities – to protect their fundamental human rights. New security measures give government authorities unprecedented powers, which can seriously infringe the basic human rights of those against whom the powers are exercised.

Rights and Freedoms

DIALOGUE AUSTRALASIA NETWORK NATIONAL CONFERENCE

I would like to open today by reading you part of an e-mail that a work colleague of mine received recently from a young Australian woman in her early twenties, who recently completed her Bachelor of Communications degree from UTS in Sydney. As it happens she also holds Polish citizenship and is currently visiting her grandparents in Warsaw.

Rights and Freedoms

"Long-term detention and mental health": Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM (2002)

Professors Harry Minas and Byron Good - Conference Convenors and Co-directors, distinguished guests from both Australia and overseas, ladies and gentlemen, all.

Commission – General

Human rights education: realising the vision of social justice

Speech by Catherine Branson, former president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, delivered as part of the Centre for Research in Education Annual Oration in 2011.

Commission – General

The German Presence in South Australia

I am honoured to have been invited today to open this conference. I have a surname and ancestors with German origins, and I am the Chancellor of this august institution. I guess this explains the invitation, but I have to confess that I feel a bit of an outsider here amongst a distinguished audience steeped in knowledge about the topic of the Conference.

Age Discrimination

Building a better cultural inheritance for an ageing Australia

Hon Dr Kay Patterson AO Age Discrimination Commissioner Keynote Address to National Press Club of Australia, Canberra Wednesday, 28 June, 2023 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Welcome Thank you Andrew Tillett (National Press Club Vice President) for your kind introduction. I am sometimes introduced...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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I begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land where we meet today, and pay my respects to their elders. I would also like to thank the LIME conference organisers -- and Gregory Phillips and Lisa Jackson-Pulver in particular -- for inviting me to speak tonight and for organising this event and for ensuring that Indigenous health – so often overlooked in the ongoing debates about health and health reform in Australia – receives the attention it deserves in this context.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee ( NAJAC) Colloquium

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people peoples, the traditional owners and custodians of the land where we are gathered today, and pay my respects to their elders. I would also like to thank the members of the National Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council for providing me with the opportunity to speak today and acknowledge my distinguished fellow speakers and panel members.

Disability Rights

Risky Business?

I make this acknowledgment in all my public presentations, because recognising the indigenous history of this land is an important element in recognising the truth of our diversity as a people.

Disability Rights

Innes: ‘Signing up'

Graeme Innes AM, Human Rights Commissioner and Commissioner Responsible for Disability Discrimination Deafness Forum Conference, Canberra, 24 May 2008.

Disability Rights

Presentation to Web Content and Performance Management Conference

Good morning everyone. I'm actually thinking of developing a theory of corporate management based on reactions to that introduction. For example, when I say good morning to first year university students, they echo "good morning" back to me; when I say good morning to politicians, they remain silent, lest they be misquoted; when I say good morning to management consultants, they write it down; and when I say good morning to web content strategists, they hurry off to turn it into a inaccessible bitmap image.

Sex Discrimination

Launch of Good Practice, Good Business (2004)

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.

Rights and Freedoms

Rural health: A human right for rural people: Chris Sidoti (1999)

Over the past year I have travelled to about 30 communities in all States and Territories from large regional cities like Cairns and Bunbury to small towns like Bourke and Peterborough, to remote communities like Papunya and Yuendumu. Wherever I have gone I've heard of the hard work and commitment of rural nurses in their local communities.

Commission – General

President speeches: The Potential Role of National Human Rights Institutions in the Pacific

This paper advocates that National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) have a very valuable role to play in the Pacific, and that the promotion and protection of human rights in the Pacific would benefit immensely by Pacific nations each establishing a NHRI.

Commission – General

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In just one week the nations of the world will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is an historic occasion. The last 50 years has seen significant progress in the recognition and protection of human rights, both at an international level and within the borders of sovereign states.