Refine results
-
14 December 2012Book page
Highlights of the year - Annual Report 2011-2012: Australian Human Rights Commission
During 2011-12, we provided information about the law and the complaint process to 17,047 enquirers. We received 2610 complaints alleging discrimination and violations of human rights and we finalised 2605 complaints. We conciliated 48% of finalised complaints, which means that we assisted over 2500 people and organisations involved in complaints to successfully resolve their dispute. -
Disability Rights
14 December 2012SpeechBurdekin: The Human Rights Of Australians With Disabilities
I would like to thank ACROD for inviting me to deliver the Kenneth Jenkins Oration; both because I regard it as a privilege and because it gives me the opportunity to address a gathering of the key people in the disability field at an important time in the work of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. -
Disability Rights
14 December 2012Speech
International Day of People with Disabilities Keynote Speech
Thanks for the chance to speak with you today. As you might guess, in my role as Disability Discrimination Commissioner, I receive many invitations to speak at functions on the international day. One of the reasons I chose this invitation is because of the really important role that Local Government plays in the lives of all Australians. It deals with the issues that are in your face- and I know, because until two years ago I was a Councillor on Ku-Ring-Gai Council. -
Disability Rights
14 December 2012Speech
Reasonable adjustment
It's important for us all in talking about reasonable adjustment not to appear to present employing people with disability as something new or exceptional being asked of employers. -
Disability Rights
19 March 2015Speech
6th National Disability Summit - Keynote speech: Disability Discrimination Commissioner
To begin, I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are meeting. I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present, and the Elders from other communities who may be here today. Thank you for inviting me to speak at the 6th National Disability Summit. -
14 December 2012Book page
Bringing them Home - Millicent story
At the age of four, I was taken away from my family and placed in Sister Kate's Home - Western Australia where I was kept as a ward of the state until I was eighteen years old. I was forbidden to see any of my family or know of their whereabouts. Five of us D. children were all taken and placed in different institutions in WA. The Protector of Aborigines and the Child Welfare Department in their 'Almighty Wisdom' said we would have a better life and future brought up as whitefellas away from our parents in a good religious environment. -
Disability Rights
14 December 2012Speech
Release of third progress report on South Australia's Promoting Independence strategy
I am not here to present South Australia's government as having achieved the last word in access and inclusion for people with disabilities, any more than this report itself seeks to claim that the task is finished. -
Disability Rights
29 September 2016Speech
Equal before the law? How the criminal justice system is failing people with disability
<p>I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respect to their elders past and present.<br><br>I am delighted to be here today to deliver the 2016 Annual Costello Lecture.<br><br>Last year, the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, delivered a lecture on business and human rights, proposing that the corporate world is both a cause and a solution to breaches of human rights.<br></p> -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
14 December 2012SpeechEssentials for Social Justice: Protecting Indigenous children
I begin by paying my respects to the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land where we gather today. I pay my respects to your elders, to the ancestors and to those who have come before us. And thank you, Alan Madden, for your generous welcome to country for all of us. -
Age Discrimination
24 May 2019Publication
Willing to Work: National Inquiry into Employment Discrimination Against Older Australians and Australians with Disability (2016)
The right to work is a fundamental human right, but one that far too many older people and people with disability in Australia do not enjoy. -
14 December 2012Book page
Monitoring and reporting on laws and policy - Annual Report 2009-2010: Australian Human Rights Commission
The Commission assesses compliance with human rights principles by examining and reporting on issues of race, age, sex and disability discrimination and human rights. In doing so, we play a significant role in the monitoring of legislation and policy in Australia. -
Rights and Freedoms
14 December 2012SpeechAustralian Lawyers Alliance Conference (2009)
As lawyers who work every day with ordinary people, you will all have first hand experience of the value that we, in Australia, place on human rights. You will also be acutely aware of the significant gaps in human rights protection in Australia. -
27 March 2015Book page
4 Additional issues emerging from the consultation
<ul> <li><a href="#Heading591">Right to freedom from arbitrary detention</a></li> <li><a href="#Heading609">Euthanasia </a></li> <li><a href="#Heading617">Charter of human rights </a></li> <li><a href="#Heading628">Human rights education </a></li> <li><a href="#Heading637">Exercising responsibilities and civil society action to advance human rights </a></li> </ul> -
14 December 2012Book page
Woman of the World - What are Human Rights?
Human rights define the value and worth of each person and their relationship to society. They identify standards regarding the quality of life that each of us can expect to enjoy. -
Sex Discrimination
27 March 2015SpeechSydney Girls High School – Annual Presentation Day
It is indeed a privilege to be invited to speak to you all at such an important time in many of your lives. In my job I get the opportunity to see and be with people of all walks of life, across all parts of Australia. And it is wonderful to be able to include today in my experiences – it is giving the chance to be with an incredibly talented group of young women, who I hope to see in leadership and decision-making positions across Australia in the future – it is incredibly inspiring. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
14 December 2012Speech
Social Justice and Wellbeing (2010)
I begin today by paying my respects to the Ngunnawal peoples and their elders, whose land we meet on today. I acknowledge their graciousness in sharing their lands and their culture with all those who live and visit here. -
14 December 2012Book page
Highlights of the year - Annual Report 2009-2010: Australian Human Rights Commission
In July 2010, the Racism and the Tertiary Student Experience in Australia policy paper was released, the result of our partnership with the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and Universities Australia. With international student safety a major political, social and economic issue, we led a collaboration of student representatives, key institutions and international experts to address the policy gap, identify the human rights issues and advocate for solutions. This partnership helped create a national voice for international students. -
Age Discrimination
21 June 2013Opinion piece
Media can help in the fight against age discrimination
<p>Forgetful. Slow. Inactive. Inflexible. Technophobic. Prone to illness. Unable to learn new things. Bad drivers. Vulnerable. Grumpy. Isolated. Lonely.</p> <p>If I were to ask you which group of people these terms are often used to describe, I’m sure it would not take you long to arrive at ‘older’ people.</p> <p>Yet, think of the ‘older’ people you know, and you will most likely come to realize that most, if not all of these terms, don’t apply to them.</p> -
Disability Rights
14 December 2012Speech
Housing, human rights and sustainability
Thank you especially to Margaret Ward, the previous National Convenor of the network and Amelia Starr the current Convenor for the excellent debate you have nurtured over the past few years between Government, the housing industry and the community. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
21 May 2014Speech
2014 WACOSS Conference
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-Australians alike. It is a journey that will mark our maturity as an inclusive, just nation.