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Commission – General

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I accepted the invitation to make this Oration and come here tonight with some trepidation: The person being honoured tonight, Dame Roma Mitchell, was the first federal Human Rights Commissioner and this is the territory that has known the powers of persuasion, conviction and commitment of the best human rights minds in the country, including Dame Roma Mitchell herself. Yet I reminded myself that we are both cultivators in the same vineyard, albeit that I both lagged behind her and sought to learn from her. My work today is made easier by the clear and decisive path cut out by my predecessor.

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.

Disability Rights

Roundtable on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities

A long, long time ago, I can still remember sitting down to write my first Roundtable speech.And I thought if I had a chance, then human rights I could advance And equal access wouldn't stay just out of reach And now I'm here again to give a Few thoughts and perhaps deliver Some good news on your doorsteps And talk about some next steps

Disability Rights

Launch of Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Disability Action Plan

I also acknowledge representatives here of the disability community and the telecommunications industry. Also of course I acknowledge Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Mr John Pinnock and his staff.

Disability Rights

The right to belong

I have called this paper "the right to belong", and it is with this idea that I wish to begin my address to you this afternoon, before discussing in more detail the current state of the law in relation to disability discrimination.

Rights and Freedoms

THE CLASH OF CIVILISATIONS: Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM (2003)

"....the fundamental conflict in the next millennium will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural"...

Commission – General

Federal Anti-discrimination Law - 2004

In May last year I stepped down from my position as a Judge of the Federal Court to accept the role as President of HREOC. It has been a time of new challenges, such as the need to balance the legislative and administrative responsibilities that the Commission has been given by the federal government, with the important role of advocating for the rights of those on the margins of Australian society.

Disability Rights

Equal employment opportunity for people with disabilities: how to move from the theoretical to the actual

I congratulate EOPHEA for organising this discussion. Although, of course, your focus is primarily on employment in the university environment, the conference program is clearly designed to address equal opportunity issues of much more general significance. I have approached my own paper in the same spirit: I hope it will be particularly relevant in your own context as equity practitioners in higher education, but I have taken the opportunity to raise issues of wider relevance.

Disability Rights

Maguire: Presentation to Ozewai Conference

I've always been fascinated by numbers. Although remembering some of my maths exam results, I'm not so sure that they have been as fascinated by me. If you ask a group of people to say the first number that comes into their heads, you'll get a lot of 7's. Perhaps it's because we all have an intuitive awareness that 7 is the smallest number of faces of a regular polygon that cannot be constructed with a ruler and compass.

Disability Rights

Pokemons in the Amazon Jungle

I am here today representing, firstly, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), and, second, I'm here to represent at least 20% of the population, and 20% of your customers and users if you are a web developer or web content manager: of course, I'm referring to people who have a disability.

Disability Rights

Presentation to the NSW Subcommittee of the Australian Braille Authority

Have you ever stopped to think about all the things that we take for granted? When you're wandering through the breakfast cereal isle at the supermarket, for example, do you ever wonder whether Uncle Toby really was? If so, was he related to Sara Lee? Were Nana's apple pies originally made by Granny Smith? It's not so much that familiarity breeds contempt as that it lulls us into a state of mind where we no longer feel the need to question or even test our assumptions and presumptions.

Rights and Freedoms

The National Human Rights Consultation - Your chance to be a Human Rights Hero

Good morning. I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet – the Gadigal people of the Eora nation – and their elders both past and present.

Rights and Freedoms

Human rights issues for rural families: Chris Sidoti (1998)

Families, and those who support them, play a vital role in the protection of human rights. Accordingly, I am very pleased to address this conference, and I commend all of you for your work in preserving and strengthening families.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Launch of the Social Justice Report (2006)

Good afternoon, as a Kamilaroi woman I would firstly like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we meet on today, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and pay my respects to Uncle Charles for his welcome and acknowledge the elders past and present.

Disability Rights

Launch of Telstra catalogue

Just last December I was part of another launch for Telstra - the Big Print Bill. I talked on that occasion about how important and useful it is for all customers, including customers with disabilities, to be able to receive information in a form they can use.