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I also want to thank the conference organisers for the opportunity to speak today. conferences such as this are great opportunities to discuss some of the pressing human rights issues in Australia. I'm particularly pleased to be talking about queer rights in the workplace, as fair employment conditions are some of the most fundamental of all human rights. Trade unions have a long history of…

In keeping with the focus of this agenda item on effective functioning of human rights mechanisms and national institutions I propose at the outset to briefly list some of the key areas with which the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has been involved over the past year. A more detailed account of those activities will be circulated. So here is an overview:

The two reports launched in Adelaide today provide a scorecard on how Australian governments are meeting their obligations to ensure that Australia's Indigenous peoples can fully exercise their rights and interests.

Torture and various forms of terrorism have been practiced throughout history, though never on the scale we are now confronted with. The first visual records of police interrogation were discovered in a four thousand year old tomb in ancient Egypt. Since the pharaohs there have been many refinements in methods of inducing physical pain and gathering intelligence, most notably during the Spanish…

It's a great pleasure for me to be back in Perth , and particularly here at the Association For The Blind. During the eighties and nineties I lived in Perth for around ten years. I met and married my wife here, and still have strong family links. We still own property here and, if I have my way, we'll retire back here. Despite the fact that I have lived over East now for 16 years, I still barrack…

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. It is honour to be here today to help recognise the people who try to make a difference to some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our community.

Good morning. I would like to acknowledge the Kaurna people, the traditional owners of the land upon which we meet, and pay my respect to their elders past and present.

"....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"...

It is a real pleasure to be here in Brisbane and to speak to so many people who are all committed to the protection of children and young people across Australia.

The title of this morning’s session is ‘Recognition of Aboriginal people in the Constitution and the possibility of Aboriginal advancement’. Without a doubt, I see constitutional recognition as a pathway for advancement. I have said again and again, that is it is a real nation building opportunity and the benefits will extend to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and non…

I'm sure that I'm not the only person with a disability who has experienced the lonely path of advocacy. As we find it necessary to advocate for our right to be able to read the same information as the rest of society, or to enter a building through the same door, or take a guide dog to the same restaurant, we can also find ourselves agreeing with the next line of the song, "two can be as…