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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice1 June 2021Speech
AIATSIS Summit Keynote Address: Truth for change—Reckoning with our past and transforming our nation
<p><strong>Introduction and acknowledgements </strong></p> <p><em>Opening in Bunuba. </em></p> <p>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 continent, carrying many diverse and interconnected languages, cultural practices and laws. &nbsp;</p> -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice1 June 2021Speech
Truth for change - Reckoning with our past and transforming our nation
<p style="margin-bottom:11px"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt">This was the keynote address at the&nbsp;Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies&nbsp;conference, 2021.</span></b></span></span><br><br> <br><br></p> -
14 December 2012Book page
Annual Report 1999-2000: Privacy
I have pleasure in presenting the twelfth Annual Report on the operations of the Privacy Act 1988 for the year 1999-2000. The year past has been a challenging and productive year for the Office. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice3 September 2019Speech
'Our women's voices. Our children's future' SNAICC 2019 National Conference
<p style="margin-top:16px"><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;,sans-serif">Introduction in Bunuba </span></b></span></span></span></p> -
Rights and Freedoms3 March 2023Speech
Making rights a reality: the need for a Human Rights Act for Australia
This presentation, on International Human Rights Day, advances the case for a Human Rights Act for Australia, reflecting on experiences during COVID and the difference a Human Rights Act may have made. -
14 December 2012Book page
Annual Report 1999-2000: President Statement
The year of this report saw several significant changes and developments within the Commission. Some were anticipated; some had been delayed; some were more welcome than others all led to a full and active twelve month period. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice10 April 2013Publication
"Our future in our hands"
Download in PDF [1.72MB] Community Guide to the Report Table of Contents Introduction Section 1: The importance of a National Representative Body Section 2: What we heard in the national consultation process Section 3: The proposed model: a new National Representative Body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Section 4: A developmental approach: the interim process for the new national representative body to December 2010. -
14 December 2012Book page
Our future in our hands (2009)
“The discussion about a new National Representative Body is about our place at the table in making the decisions that impact on our communities, on our men, our women and our children. -
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 consistency of the government's response to the recommendations with the reconciliation process and the aspirations and needs of members of the stolen generations. -
14 December 2012Book page
Social Justice Report 2000: Chapter 1: Introduction
The past year has been one of great contrasts. On the one hand, we have experienced the apparent harmony and healing of the walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and similar walks in other states and on the other hand, the national outpourings of grief and anger at the death of a 15-year-old boy in custody in Don Dale Detention Centre in Darwin in February. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice14 December 2012Speech
Citizens Inside: Dr W Jonas AM (2000)
This morning about 20,000 Australians woke up in a prison cell. What will their day bring? Most of you know far more about that than I do and that is precisely why we have called upon your expertise for today's workshop. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice10 February 2022Speech
ANU College of Law Conference: Parenthood and Work in a Post-COVID Context
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size:&lt;br /&gt; 14.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;,sans-serif">[Introduction in Bunuba]<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size:&lt;br /&gt; 14.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;,sans-serif">It is a pleasure be speaking to you all today. My name is June Oscar, and I am Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.<o:p></o:p></span></p> -
14 December 2012Book page
Social Justice Report 2000: Chapter 4: Achieving meaningful reconciliation
This report identifies the necessity to adopt a human rights approach to reconciliation, as well as shortcomings in Australia's performance on human rights issues as they relate to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. This chapter emphasises processes and mechanisms that enable reconciliation to be implemented within a human rights framework. It identifies crucial commitments and processes that governments must engage in to progress meaningful reconciliation in the coming years. -
14 December 2012Book page
Our agenda: Commission workplan 2012-2013
Human rights are our entitlements to have our dignity and worth as human beings recognised. We all have them, we all want them recognised in our friends and families, and we all have responsibilities to recognise them in others. -
Commission – General9 April 2013Publication
Our agenda: Commission workplan 2012-2013
This document provides an overview of the Commission’s major activities for 2012-13. The Commission regularly reviews the ways in which human rights are being observed and respected across Australia. We do this to determine where we can take practical action and make a positive difference. -
14 December 2012Book page
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission: Social Justice Report 2000
The defining feature of the past year has been the focus on reconciliation ... But as we reach this crucial stage in relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, reconciliation has come to mean different things to different people. Reconciliation has been described as a 'peoples movement' ...having reached a level of community support that is now unstoppable. For the government it is also a term that means practical measures to achieve practical improvements in the livelihoods of Indigenous peoples ... For many Indigenous peoples it has been seen as yet another opportunity ... -
Rights and Freedoms14 December 2012Speech
Beyond Bush Talks: Chris Sidoti (2000)
Thank you for inviting me to speak today. It is almost a year since I spoke about the Human Rights Commission's Bush Talks consultations at the 1999 national conference of the Australian Association of Rural Nurses in Adelaide. I spoke in particular about some of the health concerns raised in the consultations. Today I would like to look beyond Bush Talks in more detail at some of the areas of particular concern which were raised and then explain some of the Commission's continuing work on human rights in rural Australia. -
27 November 2015Book page
The need for better engagement - Year in review
<h3>1.1 Introduction</h3> <p>In last year’s <i>Social Justice and Native Title Report</i>, I raised concerns about the changes resulting from the 2014-15 Budget and the restructure to Indigenous Affairs through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS).</p> <p>Despite initial concerns about how these changes would impact our communities, I indicated that the streamlining of programs and the move away from a ‘one size fits all’ mentality had the potential to offer great benefit and flexibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.</p> -
14 December 2012Book page
Human rights - what do I need to know? (2008)
All Australians have human rights. Human rights are universal: they are for everyone, everywhere, everyday. Human rights are based on values such as freedom, equality and dignity and seek to protect our quality of life. -
14 December 2012Book page
Social Justice Report 2000: Chapter 2: Reconciliation and human rights
This will be how we assess the success or otherwise of the reconciliation process in years to come. The reconciliation process has the potential to be as significant, and difficult, as the process that led to the joining together of the states into one indissoluble federation in 1901. It challenges us to adapt the structures of society in ways that ensure that first nation peoples can participate fully, be welcomed and have our cultures respected. Integral to this process is an acknowledgement of the wrongs of the past and an acceptance of the need for a restructured relationship.