ERC assisted our international partners Edmund Rice International and Franciscans International in the preparation of this NGO Alternative Report as part of the United Nations' Human Rights Committee's review of Australia. The Human Rights Committee is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its State parties.

My story as an ERC staff member mainly concerns the first half of the Centre’s history. I have too many memories to recount here so I will just provide a snapshot of some of the poignant moments from my perspective. I have worn many hats at ERC, firstly as Co-ordinator of Research and later as Deputy Director, and also Acting Director (in 2007), before I left to undertake doctoral study. I have worked with amazing people in Australia and overseas as we forged relationships and partnerships with diverse communities, and together we travelled the long road of action for justice and human rights for people in Australia and across the globe.

In those early days of the late 1990s the Edmund Rice Centre was like a log fire. The more it was stoked with ideas and actions the more alive it became. The more people involved, the warmer the atmosphere. I didn’t realise that this fire had only recently been lit when I first came to Sydney in 1996 and attended a Social Justice meeting at Balmain.