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Disability Rights

2011 Disability Speech: NSW Careers Forum

RITA KUSEVSKIS-HAYES: Good morning, everybody. If I can ask everyone to take their seats. Good morning, everybody. My name is Rita Kusevskis-Hayes, and I would like to welcome you on behalf of the 2011 Careers Forum Organising Committee to the University of New South Wales.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

President Speech: Human Rights 2011 (2011)

Thank you Indira - and thank you Michael for your welcome to country. On behalf of the Australian Human Rights Commission, I acknowledge the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation and pay our respects their elders past and present.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

President Speech: Mandatory immigration detention of children in Australia: how far have we come and where to from here? (2010)

I knew Brad well and admired him a great deal. We met when he joined the Crown Solicitor’s Office and we worked closely together in that office for a number of years. He was appointed Crown Solicitor of South Australia when I left that position to practice at the private Bar. He was subsequently appointed Solicitor-General of South Australia, the office from which, I believe, he made his greatest contribution to Australian public law.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

President Speech: The role of the Australian Human Rights Commission in protecting and promoting human rights in Australia

I would like to begin by saying how delighted I am to be here speaking this evening about the work of the Australian Human Rights Commission. I hope also to learn more about the protection of human rights in Japan and about your proposal for a national human rights institution in Japan. This is my first time to Japan and I am thrilled to be here. I am grateful for all the work that has gone into the preparation for this session and for my visit. And I thank those who have looked after me so well since I arrived in your country.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

2008 Human Rights Day Oration

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Bill of rights is essential to best serve human rights (2008)

Five years ago I began my term as the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, confident in the ability of the common law and a robust democracy to protect human rights. I leave convinced we need a major legal and cultural overhaul in order to deal with the human rights challenges of the 21st century.

Category, Opinion
Rights and Freedoms

A question of human rights (2008)

As the Government points out on its Australia 2020 Summit website, the new century has thrown up enormous challenges, as well as breathtaking opportunities to us all.

Category, Opinion
Rights and Freedoms

Opinion Pieces - Immigration detention laws need reviewing (2008)

This is an often depressing tour that we at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) undertake every year to monitor the conditions of immigration detention in Australia for compliance with internationally recognised human rights obligations. We tour and inspect the facilities, interview the staff and meet with the detainees themselves.

Category, Opinion
LGBTIQ+

Opinion Pieces - It's hard to argue against equality (2007)

Federal laws prohibit discrimination against women, older people, people with disability and people of different races. However, there are 60-plus pieces of federal legislation which specifically deny financial and work-related benefits to same-sex couples.

Category, Opinion

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