Rights and Freedoms
Distinguished guests, friends and colleagues - thank you for your welcome to this Law Institute of Victoria seminar. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I will always have a soft spot for the Law Institute of Victoria. I was admitted...
Rights and Freedoms
Distinguished guests, friends and colleagues - thank you for your welcome to this Law Institute of Victoria seminar. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I will always have a soft spot for the Law Institute of Victoria. I was admitted...
Rights and Freedoms
Please check against delivery Distinguished guests, friends and colleagues- thank you for your welcome tonight. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay respect to their elders past and present. I am honoured to be a patron of Justice Connect...
Commission – General
Speech to the annual Human Rights Dinner, co-hosted by Justice Connect and the Human Rights Law Centre. Draft: check against delivery Thank you for your welcome tonight. Acknowledgement of country I am honored to be a patron of Justice Connect that has so successfully aligned probono lawyers with...
Race Discrimination
In October 1975, at a ceremony for the proclamation of the Racial Discrimination Act, then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam described the legislation as ‘a historic measure’, which aimed to ‘entrench new attitudes of tolerance and understanding in the hearts and minds of the people’.(1) The Act was...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
The long running, if muted, struggle between the High Court of Australia and the Government over refugees recalls a bitter legal battle in the early 17th century. Sir Edward Coke, the first Lord Chief Justice of England, defied King James 1 by asserting the supremacy of the common law over the...
Children's Rights
YMCA 2015 National Children’s Services Conference Moonee Valley Racing Club, Victoria Saturday 21 March 2015 Introduction Good morning and thank you for the introduction. I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Wurundjeri people of the...
Children's Rights
Children and young people as complainants Complaint Handlers’ Information Sharing and Liasion (CHISaL) Seminar Introduction Good afternoon everyone and thank you Sandra for the introduction. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to...
Commission – General
(Check against delivery, 24 February 2015) The Report of the Commission’s Inquiry into the impact of immigration detention on children, The Forgotten Children , has now been tabled in Parliament and is available to the public– more than three months after it was provided to the Government. The...
Rights and Freedoms
National Press Club, Wednesday, 18th February 2015 - Why freedom matters
Rights and Freedoms
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Introduction and acknowledgement Thank you Andrew for your welcome. Before I begin I would like to acknowledge that we meet on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to elders, past and present. May I also acknowledge Peter Greste’s parents and...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
NEXT year is the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, signed reluctantly by King John at the demand of his rebellious barons in 1215. Buried in the middle of this foundational document of English constitutional law — setting out the single measure for wine and ale and the rights of widows on the...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
The former and current ministers for immigration and border security, Chris Bowen and Scott Morrison, agree on one thing: that asylum seeker children are not detained to deter people smuggling. Rather, it appears that patrol boats and naval frigates, commanded by a three star general, and a refusal...
Children's Rights
Megan Mitchell National Children’s Commissioner National Child Protection Week Gala Dinner – Alice Springs Thursday 11 September Introduction Thank you, Jade and Jacob and good evening everyone. I’m delighted to be here tonight as part of National Child Protection Week. Can I start by acknowledging...
Children's Rights
Megan Mitchell National Children’s Commissioner National Child Protection Week Breakfast Launch Tuesday 9 September Introduction Thank you, Charlie and Zac, and good morning everyone. I’m delighted to be here this morning to help launch National Child Protection Week and to present the NAPCAN Play...
Visit our media centre for up to date contact details for all media enquiries.
