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14 December 2012Book page
Native Title Report 2001: Appendix 2
Native title agreements are emerging as an important tool in defining the rights of native title holders over their land. As Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner I welcome negotiation and agreement-making as a way of establishing a stable and enduring basis for a dynamic and long term relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people over land. However I am… -
Rights and Freedoms
14 December 2012SpeechLawasia Conference
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… -
Rights and Freedoms
14 December 2012Speech
Human Rights in Contemporary Australia: Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM (2001)
Despite its rather grand title, this presentation will be a relatively modest attempt to set out the key challenges for human rights in Australia as I see them at the outset of my term as Human Rights Commissioner. Let us begin with a quick survey of the state of human rights internationally and in Australia today. -
Employers18 February 2015Webpage
Age discrimination
Learn how age discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favourably because they are considered to be too old or too young. -
Employers10 February 2015Webpage
The Australian manufacturing and retail sectors and human rights
Learn how Australian manufacturing and retail sectors can integrate human rights into business practices to manage risks and create value. Read our fact sheet. -
Children's Rights
20 November 2014SpeechPrivileging the Voice of Children
Megan MitchellNational Children's Commissioner Early Childhood Australia Riverina Dinner Evening25 August 2014 Check Against Delivery IntroductionGood evening everyone and thank you for having me here. Thank you in particular to Julia Ham, Riverina Early Childhood Australia, for inviting me to attend and speak this evening.Before I begin I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of… -
14 December 2012Book page
Bringing them Home - Chapter 2
Every morning our people would crush charcoal and mix that with animal fat and smother that all over us, so that when the police came they could only see black children in the distance. We were told always to be on the alert and, if white people came, to run into the bush or run and stand behind the trees as stiff as a poker, or else hide behind logs or run into culverts and hide. Often the white… -
Commission – General
14 December 2012SpeechSeventh International Conference for National Human Rights Institutions
Torture and various forms of terrorism have been practiced throughout history, though never on the scale we are now confronted with. The first visual records of police interrogation were discovered in a four thousand year old tomb in ancient Egypt. Since the pharaohs there have been many refinements in methods of inducing physical pain and gathering intelligence, most notably during the Spanish… -
14 December 2012Book page
Social Justice Report 2001: Chapter 1: Ten years on from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
The year 2001 marked the tenth anniversary of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The 5 volumes and 339 recommendations that comprise the national report of Commissioner Johnston remain among the most extensive, frank and devastating examinations of the impact of colonialism on the Indigenous peoples of this country. -
14 December 2012Book page
Native Title Report 2003 : Chapter 2 : Native Title Policy - State and Commonwealth profiles
Human rights principles require that Indigenous people's relationships to land, based on traditional laws and customs, be given legal recognition and protection. International legal principles also recognise that Indigenous peoples have economic, social and cultural human rights. Native title, as it is constructed through the Australian legal system, has a limited capacity to meet these human… -
14 December 2012Book page
3. Setting the Scene - Children in Immigration Detention
I want to tell you that actually I spent about fifteen nights in the ride to Australia. I was in a small boat if you want to call that a boat, because it was smaller than that, with lots of difficulties. When I saw [we were] getting near Australia I was becoming a little bit hopeful. When we passed Darwin I got to the detention centre as soon as I looked at these barbed wires my mind was full of… -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
The German Presence in South Australia
I am honoured to have been invited today to open this conference. I have a surname and ancestors with German origins, and I am the Chancellor of this august institution. I guess this explains the invitation, but I have to confess that I feel a bit of an outsider here amongst a distinguished audience steeped in knowledge about the topic of the Conference. -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
Site navigation
As the world awaits the birth of the new millenium with a level of anxiety we come to associate with expecting parents, I am pleased to note that the United Nations, in nominating 1999 the International Year of Older Persons, has not, at the last, forgotten the grandparents. -
Legal
14 December 2012WebpageDIMIA: temporary exemption
By this instrument the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission grants to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (“DIMIA”) its contractors and agents, a temporary exemption ("the exemption") pursuant to section 44(2) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) ("the Act"), from the operation of sections 22, 23 and 26 of the Act. -
Rights and Freedoms
14 December 2012Speech
Henry Parkes Primary Schools Citizenship Convention
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. -
Rights and Freedoms
14 December 2012Speech
Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby: Graeme Innes AM (2007)
I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. It's almost 18 months since we launched the Same-Sex: Same Entitlements National Inquiry. In that time, we have travelled around Australia to hear, first hand, about the impact of discriminatory laws on same-sex couples, and their children. We received 680 written… -
Disability Rights
14 December 2012SpeechA DDA STANDARD - WHAT IS FAIR
This law applies in all areas of public life, and specifically access to public premises. This means that premises and related facilities should not impede the use in any way by people with disabilities. -
14 December 2012Book page
Commission Website: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
Thank you for the opportunity to address an issue, which I believe, is another stain on Australian history. The systematic neglect and abuse of children in our IDCs is shameful and must end. It is intolerable that our senior politicians claim that a simple majority gives them the mandate to practise policies that ignore established standards for the care and nurturing of children. -
14 December 2012Book page
Voices of Australia: Resource sheet 5 - human rights education
Federal system : a political system in which governmental power is shared between a central or federal government having power over the whole country, and regional governments having power over their respective regions. The Australian federal system consists of the division of powers between the Commonwealth parliament and the State parliaments, as set out in the Commonwealth Constitution. -
Disability Rights
14 December 2012Speech
Deafness Forum presentation to Princess Alexandra Hospital
I was particularly pleased to receive the invitation from Deafness Forum to participate in this event to recognise the access initiatives developed by Princess Alexandra Hospital .