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Commission – General

Human Rights Day Oration 2020: Rosemary Kayess and Nas Campanella

The 2020 Human Rights Day Oration was delivered by leading disability rights advocate Rosemary Kayess, winner of the 2019 Human Rights Medal, and a contributor to the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Ms Kayess discussed the social transformation of...

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

National Disability Strategy Future Forum: Beyond 2020

The Australian Human Rights Commission and the Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health National Disability Strategy: Beyond 2020 webinar September 24, 2020 Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner Introductory Address Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests; Good...

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Speech to National Labor Disability Summit

Dr Ben Gauntlett National Labor Disability Summit Melbourne November 1, 2019 Good disability policy benefits all Australians. When we think of disability policy, it is not “us” and “them”, it is "we", we the people of Australia need good disability policy because it reflects our values of diversity...

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

22nd Session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

22nd Session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Australia’s appearance, 12 to 13 September 2019 Geneva, Palais des Nations Room XVII Opening Statement (5 minutes) Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner Thank you Mr Chairman. I welcome the opportunity to make...

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

Remember disability policy and research deals with the everyday lives

The following speech was an introductory address delivered by Disability Discrimination Commissioner Ben Gauntlett at a policy forum convened by the Centre for Research Excellence in Disability and Health, held in Canberra on July 18, 2019. Good morning and welcome to today’s policy forum, which has...

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

The critical task of changing community attitudes towards disability

The following speech was an opening presentation delivered by Disability Discrimination Commissioner Ben Gauntlett at a workshop on community attitudes towards people with disability convened by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disability, held in Melbourne on June 28...

Category, Speech
Children's Rights

Children’s Rights in Australia: looking back and moving forward

Good morning everyone. I’d like to begin today by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land, the Widjabul people of the Bundjalung nation. I acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make. I also pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I’d also...

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

25 years of the Disability Discrimination Act

It was 25 years ago this month that the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (the ‘DDA’) commenced operation. On 1 March 1993, Australians with a dis¬ability had a national law that was designed to provide them with equality in many areas of life. Over the past quarter of a cen¬tury, the DDA...

Category, Opinion
Disability Rights

Hanson's comments remind us we still have a long way to go

As Disability Discrimination Commissioner, it is my job to promote and protect the rights of people with disability. So when a person who has been elected to represent the concerns and aspirations of the Australian people uses the floor of Parliament to suggest that students with disability should...

Category, Opinion
Disability Rights

National Disability Services NSW State Conference ‘Turning Plans into Outcomes’

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and pay my respect to their elders past and present. I also pay respect to Aboriginal people present here today. Anne Bryce – thank you for the introduction. NDS board members, NDS members...

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

The NDIS: delivering results, delivering equality and even delivering your coffee

Getting a morning coffee on the way to work is a ritual many of us take for granted.   Not Jeremy, who is a young man with a communication disability.  The thought of not only being able to order coffee, but run a business, was a pipe dream.  Until the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)...

Category, Opinion
Commission – General

The future of human rights in Australia

AHRC Awards 2015 Thank you Craig for your generosity, for the 4th time, in guiding us through the awards. Well done for your very funny and successful Media Circus. Your honours, distinguished guests, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, the Gadigal...

Category, Speech

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