Twenty-three civil society organisations including the Human Rights Council of Australia have issued a joint Civil Society Statement on Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Civil society organisations identified key challenges involving business and human rights for Australia:
- migrant labour exploitation in Australia;
- labour abuses in the supply chains of Australian businesses;
- role of institutional investors and finance institutions in contributing, through their funding activities, to the commission of business-related human rights abuses;
- access to remedy for people who suffer harm as a result of corporate human rights abuses; and
- offshore operations of Australian companies.
The civil society statement includes a range of recommendations for improving business and human rights responses. Among these are the need for developing a baseline for current implementation of the UN principles and adoption of a Australian national action plan. The UN Guidelines were issued by the UN Human Rights Council as part of a resolution co-sponsored by the Australian government.
The full statement is accessible at the following link: implementing-ungps-in-australia-joint-civil-society-statement.