Human Rights in Queensland and Beyond: QUT Faculty of Law Event

Human Rights in Queensland (and beyond)

Wed. 19 September 2018

5:30 pm — 8:00 pm AEST

Room-Three-Sixty

Level 10, Y Block, QUT Gardens Point Campus

Brisbane, Queensland 4000

Human Rights in Queensland and Beyond

Overview

Human Rights are standards that allow all people to live with dignity, freedom, equality, justice and peace.

Join us for a keynote presentation with Professor George Williams, Dean and Anthony Mason Professor of Law at the University of NSW, where he will examine a range of issues related to human rights in Australia and internationally. A diverse panel of experts will then offer 5 minute lightning talks reflecting on the importance of a Human Rights Act in their specific domain.

In the absence of a federal bill or charter of human rights in Australia, human rights are not adequately protected and this has profound consequences for all Australians. In early 2018, the Palaszczuk government confirmed that a human rights act will be introduced in Queensland and this represents a significant development in Australia’s wider human rights framework. This will be the third human rights act to be introduced into Australia’s state and territories following the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT) and the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic).

This public lecture will involve a high profile human rights legal scholar and advocate examining a range of issues related to human rights in Australia and internationally. This will include Australia’s international human rights obligations, the current state of human rights (or lack thereof) in Australia, the process and challenges associated with the development, implementation and enforcement of human rights charters, and most importantly what a human rights act in Queensland will mean for Queenslanders and Australians more broadly.

Keynote Speaker

Professor George Williams, Dean and Anthony Mason Professor of Law at the University of NSW

Panel

Ms Aimee McVeigh, Director of Human Rights for QLD Campaign

Mr Shane Duffy, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Legal Service QLD

Ms Karyn Walsh, Micah Projects

Mr Phil Green, QLD Privacy Commissioner

Mr Peter Russo MP, Member for Toohey

Ms Matilda Alexander, Founding Director of LGBTI Legal Service