Liberty Victoria - Voltaire Human Rights Award 2021 awarded to the Children of Tanya Day
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Tue, 29/06/2021 - 15:17
Liberty Victoria is delighted to announce that the 2021 Voltaire Human Rights Award is being awarded to the Children of Tanya Day.
The Voltaire Human Rights Award honours a person or group have made outstanding contributions to human rights, free speech or civil liberties, with particular emphasis on progressing freedom, respect, equality, dignity and action.
Tanya Day, a proud Yorta Yorta woman, tragically died after being arrested for public drunkenness — a law that the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody had recommended be repealed 30 years earlier. Whilst detained in a police cell, Tanya sustained an injury from which she did not recover.
The children of Tanya Day; Belinda Day, Warren Day, Apryl Day and Kimberly Watson have undertaken a sustained effort over a number of years to fight the injustice that Tanya experienced, highlighting the inappropriateness of public drunkenness laws and advocate for justice for First Nations people, especially those in custody.
The advocacy work of the children of Tanya Day is an example of an extraordinary commitment to human rights. The family’s sacrifice and effort at a time of great personal grief and their ongoing public advocacy to seek justice in relation to Tanya’s death has resulted in a community wide benefit.
Tanya Day’s children have been instrumental in the abolishment of the public drunkenness law in Victoria. They have highlighted how this disproportionately affects First Nations people and their calls for public drunkenness laws to be replaced by a more compassionate public health response is in the process of being realised.
They are continuing their fight for accountability for her tragic death. At the same time, they are using their profile to seek justice for First Nation’s people. Apryl Day has been instrumental in founding the Dhadjowa Foundation, which has been established to advocate for families whose loved ones have died in custody and to provide a coordinated approach to assisting those families.
The Liberty Victoria Voltaire Human Rights Award will be presented at an online webinar in Melbourne on Thursday 29 July 2021 at 7pm
We sincerely hope you can join us on July 29th, and hear from Apryl and other panellists, how individual actions, your actions can create change.
Julia Kretzenbacher
President Liberty Victoria
Enquiries can be made to Julia Kretzenbacher email: info@libertyvictoria.org.au phone:
03 9670 6422