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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Over-coming discrimination against Indigenous people

From the moment Australia was colonised Indigenous peoples have suffered discrimination at the hands of a legal system imported into this land. Not only were our own laws cast aside, but the new laws discriminated against us - and did so because of our race. In 1997, while there has been movement away from former policies of assimilation, removal and protection, the dominant legal system still discriminates against us.

Category, Speech
Sex Discrimination

Peeling the inequality onion

This paper considers national and international legislative and other provisions regarding equality for women in the labour market. Australia ranks second to Sweden in terms of pay equity. It is argued that over the last two decades of global shifts to labour market decentralism and deregulation, Australian women have fared relatively well. Three fundamental reasons stand out:

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

2009 Speech: Launch of Social Justice and Native Title Reports 2008

I begin by paying my respects to the Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land where we gather today. pay my respects to your elders, to the ancestors and to those who have come before us. And thank you, Allen Madden, for your generous welcome to country for all of us.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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We are on Aboriginal land – and as a mark of respect to the traditional owners of this country – I want to recognise their culture and their law because they are integral to what we now call Coogee.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Launch of the Social Justice Report 2003 and Native Title Report 2003

I am speaking on behalf of Dr William Jonas, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. Dr Jonas is unable to be here today, with doctors having advised him he is not able to fly at this time due to a recurring illness. Dr Jonas sends his apologies and has asked that I deliver this speech on his behalf. He has asked me to express to you his appreciation for attending today and to thank Parry Agius and Lowitja O'Donoghue for agreeing to speak at this launch.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Good house, good clinic and being able to buy a feed

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".

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Australian 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.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

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I was invited to pick my own topic for discussion. As an ex-judge being invited to speak to students of the law, I assumed that I was expected to speak on something related to the administration of the law from a judge's perspective. And as President of Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), I assumed I was expected to mention the role of human rights promotion in our legal system.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Essentials for Social Justice: Reform

Between December 2007 and April 2008 the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, will deliver a series of key speeches setting out an agenda for change in Indigenous affairs.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Start Stronger, Live Longer, National Aboriginal Health Symposium

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Nyoongar people, the traditional owners of the land we are meeting on today. I pay my respects to their elders past and present. I thank you Kim Collard for your warm welcome.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Launch of Our Children Our Future report

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Category, Speech
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

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I would like to start today by acknowledging the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people on whose land we are on today and pay my respect to your elders both past and present.

Category, Speech

Pagination

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