News

Commission – General

In defence of human rights

I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the traditional country of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Age Discrimination

Human Rights Don't Diminish With Age (2023)

Hon. Dr Kay Patterson AO Age Discrimination Commissioner Speech to Chris Barnard Nursing Agency (CBNA) MACG Grand Cedar, Ashwood VIC, 3 May 2023 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Welcome everyone - I wish to acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong people as the traditional owners of the lands from...

Age Discrimination

Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald's Press club address

Why Australia Needs Ageism Awareness Day Shared Presentation with Dr Marlene Krasovitsky from EveryAGE Counts Wednesday, 25 September 2024 Check against delivery Introduction Thank you Marlene. It is a great joy to be here at this significant event. This is my third appearance at the National Press...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

The National Apology to the Stolen Generations one year on (2009)

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the Wurundjeri country, the land where we are meeting today, and thank Joy Murphy Wandin for her warm welcome to country. I pay my respects to your elders and to those who have come before us. I would also like to thank the Wunsyaluv dancers for the dances they have performed for us today.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Integration of Customary Law into the Australian Legal System: Calma

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the land where we are gathered today, and pay my respects to their elders.

Disability Rights

The Human Rights of Mentally Ill People:the HREOC inquiry and after

I congratulate the Probation and Parole Officers' Association for their initiative in organizing this conference on Mental Health, Criminal Justice and Corrections.

Disability Rights

Keynote address: Creating Welcoming School Communities (2009)

26 years ago, on this day in 1973, the first call was made on a mobile phone other than a car phone, when Martin Cooper, a Motorola executive shocked New Yorkers by walking down the street talking into a shoe-shaped handset. We've moved a long way since then, when there are more mobile phones in Australia than people, and phone calls are just one of the many things that they now do.

Disability Rights

Opportunity knocks

I follow this custom wherever I go to speak in public. I think recognising Australia ' s indigenous peoples and their prior ownership of this land in this way is more than just good manners. It is an important part of recognising our diversity as a nation.

Disability Rights

Burdekin: The Human Rights Of Australians With Disabilities

I would like to thank ACROD for inviting me to deliver the Kenneth Jenkins Oration; both because I regard it as a privilege and because it gives me the opportunity to address a gathering of the key people in the disability field at an important time in the work of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

Sex Discrimination

National Strategic Conference on Fatherhood: Pru Goward

Of course, women too can be violent. However for the most part, the purpose and effects differ radically - male violence is used to regulate women's behaviour, and men's. Men commit most of the violence that is considered in the criminal system, against women and against other men.

Rights and Freedoms

Launch of Rights of Passage: Dr Sev Ozdowski (2005)

I would like to welcome everybody to the launch of Rights of Passage: A Dialogue with Young Australians about Human Rights. I thank you all for coming.

Rights and Freedoms

Rights for all: Building inclusive communities for all generations Chris Sidoti (1999)

Thank you to the Public Health Association for inviting me to deliver the Sax Oration this year. I am honoured to follow so many distinguished speakers who have delivered the oration over the years. I am honoured too to be able to commemorate the work of Sidney Sax, one of the most significant people shaping health care policy and practice in Australia.

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

Address delivered to volunteer lawyers at the Welfare Rights Centre Housing Legal Clinic

I am very grateful for the opportunity to address you today and express my admiration to you all for taking on the very necessary venture of providing practical legal assistance to some of the most powerless and marginalised people in society.

Commission – General

"I'm the boss, so that's the way it is!"

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.