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Commission – General

10th International Criminal Congress

The topic of this seminar is ‘Criminal Justice in a climate of fear’. The word terrorism is not mentioned and yet the subject invites discussion of the impact of terrorism on life and laws in Australia.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Launch Mental Health Brochures & Fact Sheets

Diversity in Health is a conference about health. Multicultural Mental Health Australia is a multicultural health service. Vision Australia deals with issues and needs of people with print disability. What have these services and issues got to do with human rights, and why am I launching them? I'd like to reflect on these questions, and strongly argue that there is a fundamental connection between health and human rights.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Lawasia Conference

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.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

Equality before the law

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

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Start Stronger, Live Longer, National Aboriginal Health Symposium

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Nyoongar people, the traditional owners of the land we are meeting on today. I pay my respects to their elders past and present. I thank you Kim Collard for your warm welcome.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Agenda 6: Half day discussion on the Pacific

I speak as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and National Race Discrimination Commissioner of Australia. I am a member of Australia’s national human rights institution.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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Senator Scullion, distinguished guests and participants, can I begin by paying my acknowledgement to the Irukandjii Peoples, the traditional owners of the land on which we are meeting and pay my respects to their elders. I would also like to thank the National Indigenous Environmental Health Forum, the conference organising group and Queensland Health for organising this event and for inviting me to address you. And thank you to Shane for his opening words and introduction.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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I am honoured to present this distinguished lecture, which has been established as a tribute to the contribution of Sir Wallace Kyle to Western Australian society.

Category, Speech
Disability Rights

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Acknowledgment of where we stand and where we are is, it seems to me, an essential precondition to good decisions about where we want to go, and how we might get there.

Category, Speech
Race Discrimination

Refugee Week 2006 – Adelaide

Until a few weeks ago, this was an article of faith on the part of every politician. Now we are told we need to make significant policy changes to address weaknesses in our citizenship laws.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Asia Pacific Forum meeting: Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM (2001)

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.

Category, Speech

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