Sex Discrimination
The Business and National Case for Paid Maternity Leave and Making the Workforce Family Friendly Speech delivered by Pru Goward, Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner at Lennox Head Bowls and Sports Club, 31 October 2003 The Honourable Larry Anthony MP, Mrs Morag Page, wife of Member for Ballina...
Sex Discrimination
I was appointed federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner on International Womens Day this year, and started my work with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission on the 28th of April.
Commission – General
In the second century AD, Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, thanked one of his brothers for teaching him to value "the conception of the state with one law for all, based upon individual equality and freedom of speech, and of a sovereignty which prizes above all things the liberty of the subject."1
Sex Discrimination
My father first took me to the Institute of Public Affairs as it was then known, before Anne and Gerard Henderson revolutionised it as the Sydney Institute. I remember the topic was “Should Australia have an Aircraft Carrier?” I sat next to an English engineer who was on the first nuclear submarine. He spend 4 months submerged near the Russian base of Murmansk. There was absolute radio silence and he didn’t learn of the birth of his daughter until he returned to England many months later.
Sex Discrimination
"Work and family: The challenge for modern Australia" Speech by Commissioner Pru Goward, Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Royal Women's Hospital Tracy and Maund Address Royal Women's Hospital, 27 August 2002 Thank you for inviting me here this evening. It is a great privilege to have been...
Commission – General
I would like to begin by also acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I pay my respects to their elders past and present. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the inspirational work of so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who have been agents of change, be they barristers, lawyers, judges, litigants or community advocates.
Commission – General
The theme of this Conference - Human Rights and Equality for Women in the 21st Century - is rich fare for any time of the day. It calls for speculation about the future and assessment of the past; it invites fresh perspectives and challenges the imagination; it asks for re-examination of motives and goals.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I begin today by paying my respects to the Wurundjeri peoples, 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.
Sex Discrimination
At the time I nominated that as a topic, I had something clearly in mind. But that was a while ago and I have long since forgotten what it was. Which is the wonderful thing about being forgetful; every day is new and exciting. Today’s idea about women, men, life and having it all are likely to be different to yesterday’s. By the time I have finished speaking both of us might have discovered something new.
Sex Discrimination
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.
Commission – General
I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora people, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, and pay my respects to their elders.
Sex Discrimination
I also acknowledge the Larrakia people and pay my respects to their elders past, present and future. I honour them for their custodianship of the land on which we gather tonight. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have long spoken out for equality on both the national and international stage. And in terms of gender equality, they are leading the way with the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples which has both a male and female co-chair and mandated gender equality at all levels.
Sex Discrimination
At the Human Rights Commission 85 per cent of the complaints under the Sex Discrimination Act we received last year were related to the area of employment. 30 per cent were on the ground of pregnancy discrimination or parental status/family responsibility, a remarkable jump over the previous year of 18 percent! [1]
Rights and Freedoms
Let me start by saying that Australia is a culturally diverse society with 23% of Australians being born overseas. Amongst others, there is a sizeable Japanese community and, as you may hear from my accent, I myself was born in Poland.
Commission – General
I also want to make mention of the fact that we are 130kn south west of an area of great significance to the Aboriginal communities of western NSW, which is now called Mutawintji National Park - the first park to be handed back to its Traditional Owners under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act in 1998. [1] The caves and overhangs in the park have been transformed into expansive galleries of Aboriginal rock art, and it comes as no surprise that they have formed the backdrop for ceremonies for at least 8,000 years.
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