The Disability Discrimination Act Seven Years On
I wrote the title for this presentation almost a year ago when I was first asked to give it. I came back to it two weeks ago to write the actual paper and thought "what does this mean?"
I wrote the title for this presentation almost a year ago when I was first asked to give it. I came back to it two weeks ago to write the actual paper and thought "what does this mean?"
I congratulate the Probation and Parole Officers' Association for their initiative in organizing this conference on Mental Health, Criminal Justice and Corrections.
I would also like to thank the HSA group for inviting me today to speak with you about a significant human rights issue – the right of people with disability to work and participate in the social and economic life of our community without discrimination and with appropriate support.
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand and pay my respects to their elders both past and present. And I would like to thank the Australian Employers’ Network on Disability for organising this very important seminar to examine this critical issue of ‘disclosure’ which continues to be a significant issue for employers and a barrier to employment for people with disability.
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.
In my presentation today I want to focus on the Commission's work with Local Government and the effect the Disability Discrimination Act has had on how they go about their business.
Much of my mis-spent youth involved listening to rock bands. At that time the internet hardly existed, as opposed to the ubiquitous role it now plays in our lives. That's a shame for many reasons, one of them being that had it done so, I could have justified my time by contributing to www.kissthisguy.com . This is a site which lists what people thought were the words of rock songs, and then what they actually are.
Today is International Day of People with Disabilities. It is a day for acknowledging those among us whose daily lives include the realities of a disability.
Thank you for the invitation to speak today. How wonderful it is to see so many men here to support something that has for too long been placed in the "women"s issues" basket, as if violence against women is our problem.
First, it's great to celebrate our national day with such a large, diverse and - as we've seen - talented group of Australians. And may I particularly congratulate those who've chosen to join us as Australians today.
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand, and pay my respects to their elders both past and present. I make this statement at any function where I speak in order to:
In the contemporary world, and particularly amongst developed economies, many of us believed that the culture of civil liberties, freedoms and non-discrimination are reasonably well established and these precepts have clear links to innovation, creativity and the broader concepts of economic productivity and a well functioning civil society. Indeed, I believe that many of us had come to accept and expect this to be the situation, and that conferences like the one we attend here today could be built on this very premise.
Although the first Human Rights Commission was established by federal legislation in 1981, ICESCR was not added to its mandate (unlike the ICCPR). The omission was repeated when the new (current) Commission was established in 1986.
Acting Chancellor Mr Stephen Keim SC, Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake, Professor the Hon. Michael Lavarch, Executive Dean of Law, other members of the official party, Faculty staff, graduates and your families and friends.
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.
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