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Under clear blue skies on a warm afternoon, Yankunytjatjara members of Anangu Pitjantjatjara peoples are sitting in the shade of large gum trees on the banks of a broad, dry creek bed. They have come from far and wide to be at this important meeting. There is a good turn up, despite a number of people having to attend to other responsibilities.

I have called this paper "the right to belong", and it is with this idea that I wish to begin my address to you this afternoon, before discussing in more detail the current state of the law in relation to disability discrimination.

Mick Dodson, the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner said in his First Report that "A decent standard of health and a life expectancy equivalent to others is an entitlement. Social justice is not primarily a matter of the relief of suffering. It is a matter of the fulfilment of a responsibility. To draw this distinction is not to deny that the facts by themselves speak out for a remedy. Nor is it to deny that compassion is a proper response. But compassion is an insufficient foundation for the delivery of rights".

In the contemporary world, and particularly amongst developed economies, many of us believed that the culture of civil liberties, freedoms and non-discrimination are reasonably well established and these precepts have clear links to innovation, creativity and the broader concepts of economic productivity and a well functioning civil society. Indeed, I believe that many of us had come to accept and expect this to be the situation, and that conferences like the one we attend here today could be built on this very premise.

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.

Thank you Tiffany, as a Descendant of the Wiradjuri and Wongaibon Nations I would like to acknowledge the Ancestors, Elders and their descendants of the Ngunnawal people and I would like thank Aunty Ruth and Uncle Cecil for welcoming me here today.

While there is no section in the Disability Discrimination Act titled "Tourism" every aspect of the development, management and delivery of tourist services are covered by one or more provision within the DDA.

I would like to welcome you all to the first official event of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's National Inquiry into Disability and Employment since its launch on 4 March.

Can I also acknowledge Blake Dawson Waldron lawyers for providing the venue and facilities, and the NSW Disability Discrimination Legal Service for their initiative in organising this forum.

For those of you unfamiliar with Australia’s Human Rights Commission, it’s an independent government body that protects and promotes human rights. My role as Human Rights Commissioner is to check that human rights in Australia are being respected including the human rights of children and young people.

I do this in all my public speaking not only because it is proper to do so but because this acknowledgment reminds us that human experience has many levels of diversity, and this of course includes disability.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Eora people, the traditional owners, custodians and kinsfolk of the land where this conference is being held.