Hagan v Trustees of the Toowoomba Sporting Ground [2000] FCA 1615

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Hagan v Trustees of the Toowoomba Sports Ground Trust [2000] FCA 1615

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION - complaint by one member of local indigenous community that public display of the word "Nigger" in the name on a sign on the stand at the sports ground infringes the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) - stand at sports ground named after well known local sportsman - the name includes the nickname "Nigger" long used as part of the common identifier of the sportsman - sports ground trustees decide to keep the sign in place unaltered after inquiring and ascertaining that, apart from the complainant, the local indigenous community did not object to its continued display - no breach of ss 9(1) or 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986 (Cth) s 46PO Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) ss 9 and 18C, Part IIA Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) ss 13, 15AA, 15AB International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Article 5

Macedonian Teachers' Association of Victoria Inc v Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1998) 160 ALR 489 referred to CIC Insurance Ltd v Bankstown Football Club Ltd (1997) 187 CLR 384 cited Ebber v Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1995) 129 ALR 455 referred to Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Inc v South Australia (No 1) (1995) 64 SASR 551 cited

The Australian National Dictionary The Macquarie Dictionary, 3rd ed Dictionary of Afro-American Slang (International Publishers, New York, 1970) The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989) STEPHEN HAGAN v TRUSTEES OF THE TOOWOOMBA SPORTS GROUND TRUST Q 35 OF 2000 DRUMMOND J BRISBANE 10 NOVEMBER 2000

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

QUEENSLAND DISTRICT REGISTRY Q 35 OF 2000