The Australian Human Rights Institute will launch its new, annual event series in September 2025 with a provocative discussion about the future of diversity and inclusion as core values in our society.
Does the purge of diversity and inclusion initiatives in the United States and tectonic shifts in global politics signal the death knell for dreams of a more equal society here in Australia? As corporations shy away from social causes and governments become less ambitious about effecting change, how do we provide opportunity for all – not just in work but in society at large – and ensure the voices of those most in need are being heard?
Speakers
Hugh de Kretser
Hugh de Kretser commenced his five-year term as President of the Australian Human Rights Commission on 30 July 2024. For more than two decades, Hugh has played a critical role advancing human rights in Australia. Before joining the Commission, he was the CEO of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Nations people in Victoria. He previously worked as the Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Centre and the Executive Officer of the Victorian Federation of Community Legal Centres. Hugh has also served as a Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission and a Director of the Sentencing Advisory Council. He has held a range of not-for-profit board, governance and advisory positions including for Flourish Australia, the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations, knowmore and the National Association of Community Legal Centres. He has worked as a community lawyer, managing the Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre and started his legal career advising companies on employment and anti-discrimination law.
Sally Sitou MP
Sally Sitou has been the Federal Member for Reid since 2022. She is the daughter of hardworking Chinese parents who fled Laos because of the Vietnam War and believes passionately in the education and work opportunities that allowed her family to thrive and prosper in Australia. Prior to entering parliament, Sally worked in the international education and international development sectors, including stints with AusAID in Samoa, and with a not-for-profit advocating for the elderly in China as an Australian Government Youth Ambassador for Development. Her most recent post was as communications adviser at the University of Sydney, where she promoted its teaching, research programs and students around the world. During that time Sally founded the Mosaic Network, the first network of its kind at an Australian university, to bring together staff from cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Professor Nareen Young
Nareen Young is Associate Dean, Indigenous Engagement and Leadership, Business School, University of Technology Sydney, and Professor Indigenous Policy (Indigenous Workforce Diversity) at UTS Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research. She is one of Australia’s most respected workplace diversity practitioners and thinkers, has held numerous leadership positions, is responsible for introducing many concepts to Australian diversity practice and has been awarded many awards and accolades for her leadership work over many years. Nareen is influenced by her First Nations and culturally diverse heritages in all her work.
Nick Bryant
During a distinguished career with the BBC, Nick Bryant came to be regarded as one of the finest foreign correspondents of his generation. An America specialist, he reported on the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. He has also covered many of the most momentous news events of our time, including the attacks of September 11th, the Asian tsunami, the Good Friday Agreement, the war in Afghanistan and the Coronavirus epidemic. He is the author of a number of books including When America Stopped Being Great: A History of the Present, which Joe Biden kept in the Oval Office, and more recently, The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself. He has written for The Economist, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Statesman, Foreign Policy, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is a history graduate from Cambridge University, who holds a doctorate in US politics from Oxford University.
Professor Justine Nolan
Justine Nolan is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW Sydney and Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute. Justine's research focuses on the intersection of business and human rights, in particular, supply chain responsibility for human rights and modern slavery. Her 2019 co-authored book Addressing Modern Slavery examines how consumers, business and government are both part of the problem and the solution in curbing modern slavery in global supply chains. Other recent books include The International Law of Human Rights (OUP, 2017) and Business and Human Rights: From Principles to Practice (Routledge, 2016). She teaches international human rights law and related courses on global law, development, globalisation and business and human rights. Justine works closely with business, government and civil society and has been a key driver of the Australian business and human rights movement. In 2019 she was named 'Academic of the Year' at the Australian Law Awards. From 2016-2019 she served as Associate Dean Academic at UNSW Law.
David Gonski AC
David Gonski is Chancellor of the University of New South Wales and Chairman of the UNSW Foundation Ltd. He is Non-Executive Chairman of Barrenjoey Capital Partners Group Holdings Pty Limited, Chairman of Sydney Airport and Chairman of Levande Living. He is also a member of the Board of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a non-executive Member of LeapFrog Investment’s Global Leadership Council, a member of the Commonwealth Government’s Competition Taskforce Expert Advisory Panel, Patron of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, NAISDA Foundation and Raise Foundation and a Founding Panel Member of Adara Partners. He was previously Chairman of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, President of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Board of Trustees, Chair of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools for the Commonwealth Government of Australia. He was also a member of the Takeovers Panel, the ASIC External Advisory Panel and Director of Singapore Airlines Limited, the Westfield Group and Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Chairman of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd, the Australian Securities Exchange Ltd, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Guardians of the Future Fund, the Australia Council for the Arts, the Board of Trustees of Sydney Grammar School and Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd.
