Rights and Freedoms
Before anyone screams "free speech", they should actually know what they are talking about. Earlier this week the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet released new social media protocols. The protocols limit the capacity of public servants to make statements that are "harsh or extreme in their...
Rights and Freedoms
THE proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act provide the basis for correcting the legal limits of free speech, promoting pluralism, opposing reprehensible racism and highlighting the importance of responsibility. Arguably the most important change is assessing an 18C violation based on...
Children's Rights
I thought I might begin today by sharing with you the words of a few of the young people I heard from during my national listening tour last year.
Disability Rights
Sarah - not her real name - studied law at university. Not only did she earn a good law degree, she won the university medal. She also won competitions for mooting- conducting mock trials for those of you smart enough not to have chosen law as your profession. She could not get a job - or even an interview - with the Australian public service because she has a significant disability, including using a wheelchair, and some verbal communication issues.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Speech by Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner and Kirstie Parker, National Congress of Australia's First Peoples
Disability Rights
Click here to download presentation slide I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land. *Slide with contact details* I've pondered for a while how to theme this speech. After all, it’s my last international day as Commissioner, as my term concludes in July next year. And 2013 - a huge year of...
Disability Rights
Geoff Scott is your average Aussie bloke- so like most Australians, he's a prospective Telstra customer. Only difference is that Geoff is deaf.
Disability Rights
I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land. I have a dream that my children will grow up in a nation where they are not judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. Who said these words? Martin Luther King. If I can adapt that quote, I have a dream that my...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Australasian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Conference, Royal Brisbane and Royal Women’s Education Centre, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane - Abstract
The Nojin and Prior decisions in the Federal Court, Full Federal Court and High Court late last year and early this are probably the most significant decisions to employees with disability in Australian Disability Enterprises - and to ADE's - since the passage of the Disability Discrimination Act more than twenty years ago.
Disability Rights
Patricia had a degenerative disability, and lived in Department Of Housing accommodation. She has used a wheelchair for the last few years. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, but we talked in her kitchen while my friends from church worked in her garden. She told me she didn't leave the house much, and had only gone out a couple of times this year- it was September.
Disability Rights
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 10th Session, Australia - Commissioner Innes, Closing Statement 4th September 2013
Disability Rights
Good afternoon Committee members, and thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. Australia is a developed country which places importance on human rights issues. Our Government has participated in the development of many United Nations human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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