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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Tobacco control and closing the gap
Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Chair of the Close the Gap Steering Committee for Indigenous Health Equality
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Reflection on the 1967 Referendum and Multiculturalism Position Paper
Good evening distinguished guest, ladies and gentleman. Friends, I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
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We are on Aboriginal land – and as a mark of respect to the traditional owners of this country – I want to recognise their culture and their law because they are integral to what we now call Coogee.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
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I would like to begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people, the traditional owners and custodians of the land where we meet and to pay my respects to the elders.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and Citizenship
It is the intention of this paper to explore the concept of citizenship, and some associated ideas in order to present a perspective on the relevance of citizenship to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I will seek to examine some key principles in relation to citizenship which must be established in order to ensure full and just respect for the rights and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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 Were Nana's apple pies originally made by Granny Smith?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.
Commission – General
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Thank you Professor Lansbury, and thank you to Marian and the Women and Work Research Group for organising today’s forum. Thank you also to our panellists – Dr Lyn Craig, Petra Stirling, and John Murray.
Rights and Freedoms
Human rights issues for young refugees and asylum seekers
The globalisation of the world economy, including much improved communication and transportation, has increased flows of people across borders. This includes the movement of children, both with their family and unaccompanied. Separated children crossing borders may be refugees, humanitarian asylum seekers, trafficked girls who will be forced to work as prostitutes, or simply children lost in the aftermath of war. So today, children can literally travel across the world undetected and unprotected. And Australia, as part of this global system, has its share of these children.
Being a young person can be tough. Sometimes it can feel like you don’t have a say about things that affect you. But you do! Having a say is one of your rights. Understanding your rights will give you the power to stand up for yourself and the people around you. So, let’s break down what children’s rights are.
My rights as a young person
What is a right?
Human rights are special protections that help us live a happy, healthy life. Human rights protect the things that we should all have—like clean water and safety. Your rights should always be respected and never taken away from you.
Universal and equal rights
Human rights are universal and equal. Which means:
- Everyone has human rights, simply because they are human—no matter who they are, how they identify, or what language they speak, or if they have a disability.
- No right is more important than another—all rights are important and should be treated with the same respect.
Did you know there are 42 rights just for children?
Children have special rights to meet their special needs. They are written down in an agreement made by world leaders in 1989—the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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.
Rights and Freedoms
Human Rights Day address: Chris Sidoti (1996)
Forty eight years ago this Tuesday, on December 10 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration was a response to the trauma that many of the worlds nations had experienced in World War II. The trauma was especially strong among the nations of Europe, particularly because of the Holocaust, but it was also evident in East Asia, South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific.
Commission – General
President speech: Human rights, the Constitution and a Human Rights Act
We are gathered this evening on the land of the Ngambri people, from whom Canberra takes its name, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
Commission – General
Graduation Address
I speak to you now, not as the Chancellor of this University, but as the President of Australia’s national Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. And while my remarks are addressed primarily to today’s graduands, I suspect what I am about to say will resonate among parents and friends.
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.
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