Best wishes to all women – let’s celebrate your success and achievements! Particular wishes to my wife, daughter, daughters-in-law, grand-daughters and all women friends and co-workers.

International Women’s Day is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This Day also provides us an opportunity to reflect on and recognise the important and ongoing work still needed in progressing gender equality both locally and globally.

This International Women’s day we are encouraged to #PressforProgress by motivating and uniting friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive. It is important to acknowledge success and promote a culture which values the importance of equity and inclusion and recognises the role women and gender diverse individuals play in the continued growth and development of the world.

International Women’s Day URL – http://www.internationalwomensday.com.au/

I warmly welcome the signing of a maritime boundaries treaty between Australia and Timor-Leste on 6 March 2018 In New York. The Treaty Between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and Australia Establishing their Maritime Boundaries in the Timor Sea was signed at the United Nations Headquarters in the presence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres.

A significant event, the signing of this new maritime boundaries treaty marks the successful conclusion of the first-ever recourse by States to conciliation proceedings under Annex V to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Comprehensive Package Agreement of 30 August 2017, which includes the new Treaty, puts an end to a decade-long maritime dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia. “By delimiting the maritime boundary between the two States in the Timor Sea, and by establishing a special regime for the area comprising the Greater Sunrise gas field, this Agreement puts these States in a better position to exercise their respective rights and obligations under UNCLOS in an effective manner” said the Secretary-General in his remarks at the signing ceremony.

The Treaty, he noted, “is a further contribution to establishing legal certainty in the world’s oceans, an essential condition for stable relations, peace and security, and the achievement of sustainable development.”

In my blog post dated 3rd December 2013 I incorrectly used inverted commas in the title. My intention was to provide emphasis but I accept that the use of quotation marks around the word “guilty” may have indicated to readers that this was a direct quote from Dr Jakubowicz’s work. I accept that Dr Jakubowicz never wrote or said those words.

In fact, Dr Jakubowicz has acknowledged that, “One often-unrecognised tragedy of the Holocaust was that three million Catholic Poles died …. along with the three million Polish Jews at the hands of the Nazis ( https://andrewjakubowicz.com/publications/notes-for-a-grave-under-snow/)”

Dr Jakubowicz feels that my post has,
“significantly misrepresented my position, invented a phrase that I have never used, nor would use, and construed me as an enemy of the Polish nation. In my research on relations between Polish citizens of Christian and Jewish faiths, all of which has been academically refereed, I have been an assiduous supporter of reconciliation between Polish Christians and Polish Jews. In research published in recent months I have revealed more information about the role of the Polish government in exile in doing its utmost to support those of its Jewish citizens it was able to aid.”

I accept that my original post caused Dr Jakubowicz distress and retract it fully. The blog of 3rd December 2013 has been removed.

I am delighted to be awarded UNE Distinguished Alumni Award for “advocacy of multiculturalism and human rights’ .

It brings back many memories about my humble beginnings in Australia, first as a night shift process worker in Ralph Symonds and then as a PhD student at the New England University. It was a time of forming new friendships, learning English and Australia. UNE gave me a great foundation for my professional future.

I appreciate this distinction very much.

The below photographs are from the Award Ceremony held in Sydney on 20 September 2017 with Professor Annabelle Duncan, Vice-Chancellor and CEO, New England University and with Mr James Harris, Chancellor, New England University.

Last night Sir Nicholas Shehadie, a living symbol of multicultural Australia and a pivotal figure in the formation of SBS and its Chairperson, has passed away.
Sir Nicholas was a living example of Australia’s successful multiculturalism. He was born in Sydney to a Lebanese family and achieving remarkable success not only in sport as a great rugby player, but later as Lord Mayor of Sydney as well as in his time as Chair of SBS from 1981 and 1999. I pay tribute to his achievements.
Nick was a distinguish member of the Prime Minister Hawke’s Advisory Council on Multicultural Affairs – I cherish working together with him to develop the 1989 National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia. I also admired his wisdom, purposefulness and deep culture and respectful manner. His contribution to Australian multiculturalism will not be forgotten.
My sympathy and best wishes go to his widow, the former Governor of NSW, Dame Marie Bashir, and to his family.
Rest in Peace.

2014-09-03 Cameron Murphy AM Investiture

Some time ago I have written to Australian newspapers about the issue of usage of historically incorrect term “Polish Concentration Camps” instead of Nazi Concentration Camps in occupied by Germans Poland.
Now the Polish government decided to legislate to outlaw the usage of the term “Polish Concentration Camps” which brought strong rebuke from Israeli government and some others.
I find it extremely disappointing to see the current voices that wish to advance inflammatory rhetoric and exaggerated claims about the level of Polish complicity in the holocaust. Such claims only help to feed Polish antisemitism and fuel a vicious cycle of mutual recrimination with Poles advancing claims about the role of Polish-Jewish activists in Wilno in 1920, during the Polish-Soviet war in1921 or about the pro-Soviet sympathies of some Polish Jews between 1918 and 1956. I agree with Prof. Stola that “Those who condemn Poles en masse are the best friends and allies of Polish antisemitism – they feed each other.”
We need to see much more of sensitivity, both from both the Polish and the Jewish sides to continue excellent work done since 1989 to advance Polish-Jewish dialogue and reconciliation. The accusation of Polish State during WWII of cooperation with Nazis is simply a gross falsification of history. Similarly, denials of what has happened in Jedwabne and in some other villages after the Soviet retreat in 1941 as well as numerous cases of betrayal of Jews by individual Poles are falsification of history.
I think it is time to take a deep breath and look for the facts and for what unites Polish and Jewish communities. But perhaps this conflict opened by the recent IPN legislation would be like a storm that will refresh the air and will replace attitudes with facts.

Dear friends and colleagues,

Shortly after I completed my term as Australian Human Rights Commissioner, I established a series of International Conferences on Human Rights Education which many of you have attended over the years. Together we have established a grassroot movement for word-wide human rights education (HRE).

I write now to invite you to attend the 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education (9th ICHRE) which I will be convening at Western Sydney University, Parramatta Campus, Sydney, Australia on 26-29 November 2018. The working title is: 9th International Conference on Human Rights Education – Unleashing the Full Potential of Civil Society.

I encourage you to ‘save the date’.

The 9th ICHRE will coincide with and celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration which highlighted the value of human rights education.

The Conference will consider the range of human rights education issues such as national and international curricula, pedagogy and best practices. It will address contemporary challenges and how to effectively address them. Attention will be given to the most effective ways of maximising the potential of civil society through human rights education. The delivery of lasting solutions and strengthening the practical knowledge and skills of participants, including through human rights education workshops, will be the key objectives.

Some 400 international and Australian delegates are expected to attend. They will include academic thinkers, international and government officials, NGOs and human rights and education practitioners, with a special focus on those from developing countries.

Please keep a look out for the dedicated Conference website which will go on-line in February at the following address – http://ichre2018.com.au

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions – I would be only too happy to respond.

Looking forward to seeing you at the 9th ICHRE in Sydney this November.

The below video contains a short conversation with Sev about his work at Western Sydney University and the importance of multicultural policies for Australian diverse society.

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Baha’i are very peaceful people with whom I have worked over the years in Australia and elsewhere.
Today I have learned that a prominent Baha’i leader in Yemen, Hamed bin Haydara, 53, was sentenced to death on 2 January of for his religious beliefs. Mr bin Haydara was sentenced after more than four years of imprisonment during which he was tortured; he was sentenced in his absence to death by a judge of the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a, Yemen. An appeal has been lodged. Please refer to http://bahai.org.au/index.php/death-sentence-in-yemen-alarms-australian-bahai-community/
I am calling upon human rights loving Australians and the international community to speak out against the judgement.

Western Sydney University hosted the 2nd National Advancing Community Cohesion Conference – Today’s Challenges and Solutions, at its Parramatta Campus, from 20-22 November 2017.

Over 280 participants attended the Conference which was convened by Dr Sev Ozdowski AM, Director of Equity and Diversity at the University.

The Conference considered contemporary challenges to social cohesion in diverse, multicultural communities, and ways to more effectively address them. It was attended by politicians, decision-makers, thought leaders, and practitioners from government departments and agencies, academia and think-tanks, civil society organisations, schools, and the private sector.

While multiculturalism was the cross-cutting theme of the Conference, relevant issues were considered from several perspectives including social, economic, political, cultural, legal, religious, and sexual/gender identity, perspectives.

The feedback received from participants revealed that 87.5% rated the Conference as having ‘Very High’ or ‘High’ utility (usefulness, benefit or value) while 93% said they would attend another community cohesion conference organised by the University.

The narrative report on the Conference is attached.

2018-01-09 Report on the 2nd National Advancing Community Cohesion Conference