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Thanks for the opportunity to speak to this conference today. You are embarking on this topic, in my view, at just the right time. Unemployment is the lowest it has been for over a decade. Our economy is strong and needing more employees, and our population is ageing, reducing the relative size of the workforce. In coming years, there will be fewer of us to support more of us, so as many people as possible need to be working and paying taxes rather than receiving welfare benefits. What better time to introduce employees with disabilities in larger numbers.

I would like to acknowledge the Yolngu people on whose land we are today. I would also like to thank Charles Darwin University for inviting me to speak at this Garma festival where we celebrate the Yolngu culture and world view.

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.

It is now more than 5 years since the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission completed its national inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families with the publication of Bringing them home.

Today I would like to extend the way you may view your work and some of the tools available to you. The Tenants Union is part of a long tradition of fighting for housing justice, as I understand, going all the way back to 1910. What I want to add to this robust tradition is a human rights approach.

First, it's great to celebrate our national day with such a large, diverse and - as we've seen - talented group of Australians. And may I particularly congratulate those who've chosen to join us as Australians today.

Mick Gooda addresses lateral violence at Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service (QIFVLS) Gala Dinner

20 years ago today Kay Cottee sailed into Sydney Harbour, after spending 189 days as the first Australian, and the first woman, to circumnavigate the globe solo. As a sailor myself, I truly appreciate this epic achievement. When she set foot on land, she was asked how it felt to have conquered a man's world. "I was brought up to believe there is no such thing as a man's world or a woman's world" she said, "its everyone's world."

District and County Courts of Australia and New Zealand Conference.

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.

There have been some improvements in recent years. But there is a long way to go. Indigenous peoples make gains but they are often smaller than those made by the non-Indigenous population - so the disparity in life chances remains static. In fact, there has been very little reduction in this inequality gap in Australia in the past decade.

I start by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, the traditional owners of the land upon which we meet. I pay my respects to their elders, both past and present.

Thank you. Thank you to the Attorney-General for his presence this morning. I know he has to run because he has commitments in Canberra, but I greatly appreciate his efforts to come this morning to support the discussions we are about to have. I’d also like to thank the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, who will be present for part of this morning as an observer.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Keynote presentation delivered at the 8th National Conference of the Association for the Welfare of Child Health (AWCH) - "Children on the margin: addressing the health care needs of marginalised children and young people", 11 October 2001, Dr Sev Ozdowski

Allow me to start in the customary way. I would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people who are the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting at. Thank you for your invitation.