59th Session of the Commission on Human Rights
Read a statement about the history of the Australian Human Rights Commission, which was presented at the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in 2003.
Read a statement about the history of the Australian Human Rights Commission, which was presented at the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in 2003.
I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. It's almost 18 months since we launched the Same-Sex: Same Entitlements National Inquiry. In that time, we have travelled around Australia to hear, first hand, about the impact of discriminatory laws on same-sex couples, and their children. We received 680 written submissions from across Australia and met with more than 500 people. The Inquiry put federal laws under the human rights microscope.
Professors Harry Minas and Byron Good - Conference Convenors and Co-directors, distinguished guests from both Australia and overseas, ladies and gentlemen, all.
The promotion of human rights and education go hand in hand. At the international level human rights education is an essential function of the work of the UN and its many agencies. And it is fundamental to the work of a National Human Rights Commission.
It is a pleasure to be able to address you today and I would first like to acknowledge the Gadigal people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand.
Many of you here would have read Tony Stephen’s SMH article ‘Stand up for your rights stuff’ of Saturday 8 October, where he gave an account of the launch by New Matilda of a campaign to install a Bill of Rights in Australia.
Thank you for inviting me to speak today. Firstly I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we are now meeting, the Gadigal people.
I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand, the Eora People, and pay my respects to their elders both past and present.
Despite its rather grand title, this presentation will be a relatively modest attempt to set out the key challenges for human rights in Australia as I see them at the outset of my term as Human Rights Commissioner.
I would like to open today by reading you part of an e-mail that a work colleague of mine received recently from a young Australian woman in her early twenties, who recently completed her Bachelor of Communications degree from UTS in Sydney. As it happens she also holds Polish citizenship and is currently visiting her grandparents in Warsaw.
Despite its rather grand title, this presentation will be a relatively modest attempt to set out the key challenges for human rights in Australia as I see them at the outset of my term as Human Rights Commissioner. Let us begin with a quick survey of the state of human rights internationally and in Australia today.
Union, University and Schools Club * check upon delivery Introduction Thank you to the Union, University and Schools Club for inviting me to speak and to Dr Mary Forbes for reaching out to. This is a wonderful event. Full of pride, full of celebration—and full of women and supportive men! Let me...
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with all of you, and sleep with some of you. As you will have noticed, Vinnies was good enough to let my eleven-year-old daughter Rachel join me as my guide tonight, and she'll be the only one getting any of my cuddles. The rest of you have to make your own arrangements.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand and pay my respects to their elders both past, present and future.
This is a rare event for the Human Rights Commission - a media conference convened by the President with other Commissioners. I can recall it occurring only once before in the Commission's history. The fact that we are doing this today reflects the seriousness of the issue we are discussing.