Practitioners can hear the Australian Centre for Health Law Research lecture, Right About Time: A New Convention on the Human Rights of Older Persons, on Thursday, 29 May, with Bill Mitchell OAM presenting.
Principal Solicitor at Townsville Community Law, Bill’s principal area of expertise is the human rights of older people. He has regularly appeared in and consulted for the United Nations on this issue for more than a decade.
Bill Mitchell OAM will present.
On 28 March 2025, the Human Rights Council (HRC) resolved to establish a working group with the mandate of submitting a draft, international, legally binding instrument on the human rights of older people.
This historic resolution followed decades of debate in various UN forums about whether older people and the process of ageing needed specific human rights protections.
The lecture will provide a brief background on the journey from idea to the HRC’s resolution. Drafting will start in 2026, so the lecture looks to describe the procedural and geopolitical challenges in coming processes.
It will also note some of the key framing and drafting controversies likely to arise.
The free lecture will run from 5.30pm to 7pm in the Owen J Wordsworth (OJW) Room, S Block, Level 12, QUT Gardens Point Campus.
Light refreshments will be available. To attend in person, register online.
Bill was awarded the Australian Human Rights Commission Law Award in 2008, the Law Council of Australia’s President’s Medal in 2019 and a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2020.
He has more than 30 years of practice in diverse areas including human rights, refugee and immigration, disaster response and public law.
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