Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I would like to thank Professor Larissa Behrendt, Professor Martin Nakata, the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, and the Reconciliation Working Party at the UTS, for hosting this event. And I acknowledge my distinguished fellow speakers.
Sex Discrimination
Thank you, Bob, for that generous introduction and warm welcome. And thank you to G&T for hosting this event. I am so pleased to be able to join you this evening for this year’s Vincent Fairfax Speaker Series. I thought I might never make it – for the last two days I have had the privilege of being on-board the warship HMAS Sydney as it undertook war exercises offshore – part of my defence review. As my staff gradually hit the decks one after the other with sea sickness, I wondered whether arranging the sea visit to coincide with tonight’s event was a smart move.
Rights and Freedoms
Despite its rather grand title, this presentation will be a relatively modest attempt to set out the key challenges for human rights in Australia as I see them at the outset of my term as Human Rights Commissioner. Let us begin with a quick survey of the state of human rights internationally and in Australia today.
Commission – General
I was invited to pick my own topic for discussion. As an ex-judge being invited to speak to students of the law, I assumed that I was expected to speak on something related to the administration of the law from a judge's perspective. And as President of Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), I assumed I was expected to mention the role of human rights promotion in our legal system.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I begin by paying my respects to the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, the traditional owners of the land where we meet today, and I pay my respects to your elders, to your ancestors and to those who have come before us.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
On 14 May 2002 the Attorney-General tabled the Social Justice Report 2001, my annual review of the exercise of human rights by Indigenous Australians, and the Native Title Report 2001, my annual review of native title developments, in federal Parliament.
Rights and Freedoms
As lawyers who work every day with ordinary people, you will all have first hand experience of the value that we, in Australia, place on human rights. You will also be acutely aware of the significant gaps in human rights protection in Australia.
Commission – General
I would like to begin today by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation of peoples and pay my respects to their elders past and present.
Commission – General
"No More Just Tinkering at the Edges" Human Rights Day Oration by Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt AO 9 December 2022 I pay my respects to the Gadigal and the Elders who have kept knowledge on this country and shared so generously this unceded land. Before I start, I would like to thank the...
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