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Disability Rights
14 December 2012SpeechRound Table on Information Access For People with Print Disabilities
One day a few years ago I went in to wake my son. I told him that it was good to get up in the morning, to which he grumpily replied, "yes, but dad, it's even better to stay in bed". -
14 December 2012Book page
Theoretical perspectives on bystander intervention
Models which account for the circumstances under which different bystander responses occur have been evolving since the 1970s, especially in the fields of criminology and social psychology. The notion of bystanders originated with the study of an event in New York where a young woman, Kitty Genovese, was raped and stabbed to death over a period of half an hour. During the attack, 38 witnesses… -
Disability Rights
14 December 2012Speech
Education and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Des English Memorial Lecture
On 30 March 2007 I was waxing lyrical to my computer screen in Sydney. My words were not quite the same, but they had equal passion and determination. At 1.40 a.m. on that Saturday morning Sydney time, I was having a few glasses of wine and watching Australia line up with 80 other countries at the United Nations (UN) in New York, to sign that same Convention on the first day it was open for… -
Children's Rights
2 July 2014SpeechMarist Youth Care
While I believe most Australians wish for children in this country an equal chance at life - an opportunity to not just survive but to thrive - and to be free from violence, abuse and neglect, it is, perhaps, less understood or acknowledged that this opportunity is also the right of every Australian child. -
Legal
14 December 2012WebpageFamily Provisions Test Case
In performing its functions, the Commission must take account of the principles embodied in the Family Responsibilities Convention, in particular those relating to: -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
1 June 2021SpeechTruth for change - Reckoning with our past and transforming our nation
This was the keynote address at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies conference, 2021. Good morning everyone. I acknowledge the Kaurna peoples whose lands we gather on for this conference—I pay my respects to your elders, past, present and emerging. I also acknowledge all our peoples who have come from countries—First Nations—from across this vast… -
Legal
26 February 2016Submission
Submission to Inquiry into the Regulatory and Legislative Aspects of Surrogacy Arrangements (2016)
Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Summary 3 Recommendations 4 Surrogacy and human rights 4.1 What is surrogacy? 4.2 Human rights issues in surrogacy arrangements 5 Current regulation of domestic surrogacy in Australia 6 Options for future domestic regulation: increase consistency and certainty domestically 6.1 Previous attempts at national consistency 6.2 Identifying people willing to enter… -
14 December 2012Book page
Social Justice Report 2000: Chapter 5: Reparations
The Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee conducted an inquiry this year into the federal government's implementation of recommendations made by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in Bringing them home. The inquiry considered proposals for the establishment of an alternative dispute resolution tribunal for members of the stolen generations; and considered the… -
14 December 2012Book page
5 Focused age assessment interviews
Focused age assessment interviews can be a useful technique for assessing age. Interviews of this kind have been used in Australia in a range of different ways since late 2010. -
14 December 2012Book page
Native Title Report 2007: Chapter 3
It is crucial to the functioning of the native title system that there are organisations representing Indigenous people and assisting them to gain recognition and protection of native title. -
31 January 2013Webpage
2003 Human Rights Medal and Awards Winners
The 2003 Medal and Awards presentation ceremony was held on 10 December 2003 at a luncheon at the Sheraton on the Park hotel in Sydney. The Human Rights Day address was delivered by Commission President, the Hon. John von Doussa QC and Julie McCrossin was the MC. The judges were: Steve Ahern, Jack Beetson, Justice Catherine Branson, Nicholas Cowdery QC, Andrea Durbach, Cath Dwyer, Alastair… -
29 January 2013Book page
Commissioner’s Message
I am pleased to present the Report of the cultural review into the Treatment of Women at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA). This report concludes Phase One of the Review. Phase Two of the Review will examine the treatment of women across the broader Australian Defence Force (ADF). I wish to thank my fellow Review Panellists – Sam Mostyn, Mark Ney and Damian Powell – for their wise… -
14 December 2012Book page
Bringing them home - 8. History - Northern Territory
Note: This overview is based primarily on the Bringing them home report and provides a background to the policies and practices that authorised the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. It is not intended to be used as a comprehensive historical document. -
14 December 2012Book page
Bringing them Home - Chapter 20
There were a lot of families on the outside who were saying my daughter hasn't come home, my son hasn't come home. You had a lot of families still fighting and then you had the bloody welfare saying to these families, `We're not doing what was done in the sixties'. Bomaderry Home was left open as a big secret by the government and the welfare. And it must have been one of the best kept secrets… -
Commission – General
14 December 2012SpeechPresident Speech: Flinders University Law School Prize Giving Ceremony 2010
I am honoured to have been invited to address you this evening on this beautiful campus of the Flinders University of South Australia. Let me begin my address by recalling that, long before the establishment of this prestigious place of learning in the European tradition, there was learning of another tradition here; the learning of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains.I would like to… -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
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by President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission John von Doussa QC Human Rights Medal and Awards Ceremony Sheraton on the Park Hotel, Sydney -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
Creating a culture of human rights compliance
Debates about a charter of rights are often monopolised by the contentious issue of the proper role of the courts. While this is undoubtedly an important question, it overlooks the impact a charter would have on the role of Parliament as a guardian of rights of freedoms. -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
Presentation at the Governor’s Leadership Foundation Forum
HREOC is a statutory body independent of government. While our main function is to promote an understanding and acceptance of human rights in Australia, we are also charged with the responsibilities of investigating, and attempting to conciliate complaints of unlawful discrimination under the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Disability Discrimination… -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
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This session focuses primarily on relationships between National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI’s) and the Judiciary, but as well touches on their relationship with officers of the executive government such as the Attorney-General. One of the stated aims of this session is to assess how the independent institutions of the judiciary and NHRI’s can mutually and independently strengthen… -
Sex Discrimination
14 December 2012SpeechLaunch of Good Practice, Good Business (2004)
Firstly, I would like to pass on apologies from the President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, The Hon. John von Doussa QC, who is presently interstate and unable to be here today. It goes without saying that he entirely endorses the purpose of this project and believes there should be more of it.