Human Rights Day Address
I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, and pay respect to their elders.
I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, and pay respect to their elders.
In the United States, 54 years ago today, Rosa Parks was arrested. Rosa Parks was a black woman, arrested for refusing to sit at the back of a bus. It's appalling to think this occurred. It's even more appalling that 54 years later in Australia, many people with disability can't even get on the bus.
I want to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered here today on the traditional land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I pay my deepest respects to their elders past and present. I would also like to acknowledge Her Excellency Governor Marie Bashir who is with us today. She is an inspiration to many of us, as a committed leader and advocate for social justice.
I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri people, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
Set against the wreckage and the unthinkable horror of the Second World War, the Declaration was something of a phoenix rising from the ashes, a document which sought to rekindle a human dignity which had been gravely debased in the preceding ten years.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. It is honour to be here today to help recognise the people who try to make a difference to some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our community.
Ultimately, the point I would like to leave you with, is that it is possible for issues of discrimination to be addressed effectively in workplaces, and within the scope of current industrial relations and employment law.
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.
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.
Tonight's ceremony is, in part, a belated celebration of the recognition of the ABC as national award winner in the Prime Minister's Employer of the Year awards for 2000.
First, may I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.
I would like to begin by thanking the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) for inviting me to address you today, and thank Margaret Boylan (Regional Director, APS Commission, SA/NT) for her warm welcome.
Thanks for the opportunity to speak to this conference today. You are embarking on this topic, in my view, at just the right time. Unemployment is the lowest it has been for over a decade. Our economy is strong and needing more employees, and our population is ageing, reducing the relative size of the workforce. In coming years, there will be fewer of us to support more of us, so as many people as possible need to be working and paying taxes rather than receiving welfare benefits. What better time to introduce employees with disabilities in larger numbers.
6. Justice Mary Gaudron, cited in Ex 456 Pay Equity Inquiry p97 - Final Submissions of NPEC and others, cited in Report to the Minister: Volume I, 14 December 1998, p5.
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