Words: Sticks, Stones and Spears: Robin Banks at TEDxHobart

Robin Banks was appointed as the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner in July 2010. To take up this appointment she returned to Tasmania having worked, studied and travelled interstate and overseas. Her work has included extensive experience working in a range of community sector organisations focused on social justice and advocacy in Victoria, the Northern Territory and New South Wales, four years in private legal practice working predominantly with clients in the government and corporate sector dealing with discrimination and employment issues, and a year at the Canadian Human Rights Commissioner as a legal researcher.

For the six years before taking up the appointment Robin was the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre where she led Australia's largest community legal centre and took on litigation, research, public policy development and education and training around public interest law and social justice and inclusion, at both the level of individual rights protection and of systemic reform.

While Robin's particular expertise is in equality rights and advocacy with people with disability, she has also worked on issues relating to homelessness, Indigenous justice, affordable access to utilities, consumer protection, and mental illness.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)