News

Commission – General

Presentation at the Governor’s Leadership Foundation Forum

HREOC is a statutory body independent of government. While our main function is to promote an understanding and acceptance of human rights in Australia, we are also charged with the responsibilities of investigating, and attempting to conciliate complaints of unlawful discrimination under the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Age Discrimination Act 2004.1 HREOC also has specific responsibilities to report annually to Parliament on the enjoyment of human rights of Indigenous Australians.

Commission – General

Address to Tri-State Country Conference, Broken Hill

I also want to make mention of the fact that we are 130kn south west of an area of great significance to the Aboriginal communities of western NSW, which is now called Mutawintji National Park - the first park to be handed back to its Traditional Owners under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act in 1998. [1] The caves and overhangs in the park have been transformed into expansive galleries of Aboriginal rock art, and it comes as no surprise that they have formed the backdrop for ceremonies for at least 8,000 years.

Disability Rights

Speeches and papers

This page provides access to over 200 speeches and papers on disability issues from members (current and past) and senior staff of the Australian Human Rights Commission. All major speeches since 2000 are included, as well as a selection of earlier speeches and papers as far back as 1989.

Disability Rights

FORUM ON HEALTH ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

I said when I first wrote inviting you to this forum that I had been receiving representations seeking action on a range of health issues for people with disabilities, including:

Disability Rights

Using the Disability Convention for practical change (2009)

Some of us here were sitting in a stuffy conference room in the UN headquarters in New York when the Working Group completed its drafting of the convention. It was only stuffy because - in true UN style - we had exceeded our time limit for the session, the interpreters had gone home, and the air-conditioning had been turned off. But for most of us, these disadvantages paled in the excitement of what we had achieved. And that excitement was amplified as we watched the General Assembly confirm our work.

Disability Rights

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

On March 30 this year Australia lined up with 80 other countries at the UN in New York to sign the Convention on the Rights or Persons with Disabilities

Disability Rights

Pathways to Employment

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.

Disability Rights

Meeting with National Disability Advisory Council

You might have noticed that somehow governments never seem to want the same long term commitment from Human Rights Commissioners. In fact, they often seem quite happy to see us arrive at the end of a term of office ... .

Disability Rights

Enabling access

I also acknowledge distinguished guests, representatives of State and local government, members of access advisory committees, and my colleague Mr Mike Taggart who has been a central figure in the achievement we celebrate today.

Disability Rights

Launch of ABC Disability Awareness resources: An ABC for all Australians

Tonight's ceremony is, in part, a belated celebration of the recognition of the ABC as national award winner in the Prime Minister's Employer of the Year awards for 2000.

Disability Rights

The right to belong

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.

Legal

Law Seminar 2008: Australia and International Human Right: Coming in from the Cold by the Hon Robert McClelland MP

back to Human Rights Law Seminars THE HON ROBERT McCLELLAND MP Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Australia and International Human Right : Coming in from the Cold HREOC, The Hearing Room, Level 8, 133 Castlereagh St, Sydney 23 May 2008, 12.45pm First, may I acknowledge the traditional...

Rights and Freedoms

USING THE LAW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE Graeme Innes AM (2007)

Scarlett Finney was only six when she saw the brochures for the Hills Grammar School, set in park-like grounds in Sydney's outer suburbs. She indicated her keenness to attend "the school in the bush". Her parents were prepared to pay the fees, and saw the setting and curriculum as providing her with a great education. But the school refused her enrolment due to the fact that she had spina bifida, and sometimes used a wheelchair [1].

Rights and Freedoms

DIALOGUE AUSTRALASIA NETWORK NATIONAL CONFERENCE

I would like to open today by reading you part of an e-mail that a work colleague of mine received recently from a young Australian woman in her early twenties, who recently completed her Bachelor of Communications degree from UTS in Sydney. As it happens she also holds Polish citizenship and is currently visiting her grandparents in Warsaw.

Rights and Freedoms

"HUMAN RIGHTS - A CHALLENGE FOR AUSTRALIA.": Dr Sev Ozdowski (2002)

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.