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Megan Mitchell National Children’s Commissioner Children as Citizens Book Launch University of South Australia 8 August 2014 Check Against Delivery Introduction Hello everyone and thank you for having me here. Thank you, Dr Dobson, for the kind introduction. Thank you in particular to Professor Pauline Harris, from the University of South Australia, and Harry Manatakis, Department for Education ...

Read a keynote speech on the inclusivity of people with a disability at a NSW Department of Education and Training teachers conference.

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the land where we are gathered today, and pay my respects to their elders.

Freedom of religion is a close ally and friend of the absolute freedoms of thought and conscience. Government cannot regulate it, and nor should they. Equally, it is closely allied to freedom of expression.

Allow me to begin by acknowledging the people of the Wurundjeri nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to their elders both past and present.

I follow this custom wherever I go to speak in public. I think recognising Australia ' s indigenous peoples and their prior ownership of this land in this way is more than just good manners. It is an important part of recognising our diversity as a nation.

26 years ago, on this day in 1973, the first call was made on a mobile phone other than a car phone, when Martin Cooper, a Motorola executive shocked New Yorkers by walking down the street talking into a shoe-shaped handset. We've moved a long way since then, when there are more mobile phones in Australia than people, and phone calls are just one of the many things that they now do.

Let me preface my remarks today with the assertion that, generally speaking, Australia has a strong and proud record on human rights. The Australian Government is formally committed to supporting the universal observance of human rights both at home and abroad saying that this policy helps to achieve a more stable and just international order, which benefits the security and prosperity of everyone. In this statement, the Government links peace to the observance of human rights, a topic to which I shall return.

A speech by Megan Mitchell, Children's Commissioner. Research shows that 27 per cent of young people report they are bullied every two weeks or more, and about 1 in 10 Australian people experience cyber bullying on a regular basis.

Note: Hon. John von Doussa, term as President ended in October 2008. The Hon. Catherine Branson was appointed President of the Australian Human Rights Commission on 7 August 2008 for five year term.