Commission – General
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Elders and Traditional Owners of Darwin, the Larrakia People, and to thank them for the opportunity to visit this beautiful part of the country. After that very heartfelt welcome to country, I feel very privileged to be here this morning.
Disability Rights
I'm honoured to give this address. I completed my law degree at this university, and well remember the December day in 1977 when I received it. It was the culmination of four years of hard work, experiencing the pleasures and trials of campus life, and acquiring - as well as a reasonable amount of legal knowledge - a much broader appreciation of the world around me, warts and all.
Disability Rights
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land upon which we meet, the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation, and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and future.
Disability Rights
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
I am sure I am not the first person to say it, but it seems to me that there are particularly important reasons for a telecommunications company such as Telstra to be interested in diversity.
Sex Discrimination
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
Mr. Neil Brown QC, Mr. Michael Shand QC, members of the Victoria Bar and of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, all.
Commission – General
I speak to you now, not as the Chancellor of this University, but as the President of Australia’s national Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. And while my remarks are addressed primarily to today’s graduands, I suspect what I am about to say will resonate among parents and friends.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I begin by paying my respects to the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land where we gather today. I pay my respects to your elders, to the ancestors, and to those who have come before us.
Commission – General
Amongst all this expertise, it is fair to ask why is the President of the national human rights commission – and particularly a President who has only fairly recently commenced in this role - here presenting the keynote speech to such a conference?
Disability Rights
20 years ago today Kay Cottee sailed into Sydney Harbour, after spending 189 days as the first Australian, and the first woman, to circumnavigate the globe solo. As a sailor myself, I truly appreciate this epic achievement. When she set foot on land, she was asked how it felt to have conquered a man's world. "I was brought up to believe there is no such thing as a man's world or a woman's world" she said, "its everyone's world."
Disability Rights
Thank you for the opportunity to meet today. I want to take a few minutes to run through some current areas of work which may be of particular interest to you.
Disability Rights
Paper delivered by Elizabeth Hastings Disability Discrimination Commissioner 1993-97 at the Creating Accessible Communities Conference Fremantle, 12 November 1996
Rights and Freedoms
The Australian Human Rights Commission supports a Human Rights Act for Australia. It would set out in a single document the human rights that all people in Australia are entitled to enjoy, and the responsibilities we have to respect the rights of others.
Commission – General
Many years ago, when I was a very young solicitor anxious to be taken seriously by my employers, I needed to do some banking in my lunch hour. When I arrived at my bank, I was confronted by a long queue. I assessed the pace at which it was moving and decided that I could get served and still make it back to the office on time. You can imagine my astonishment when, arriving at the front of the queue, the teller asked if I would mind stepping aside so that she could serve the men behind me who would need to get back to work!
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