BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY IN aUSTRALIA
A great deal has occurred in the last year in relation to Business and Human Rights Policy in Australia. This page highlights some of these developments, and expresses views about the best way forward in relation to various policies including Modern Slavery, the regulation of precarious work in the supply chains of Australian business, the Australian National Contact Point, and more.
Yet the ‘University efforts to combat modern slavery and labour abuses in supply chains’ report shows that universities are not reporting on all their efforts. Shelley Marshall, chief author of this second report said, "our survey and interviews suggest that modern slavery statements not be reliable. Those responsible for procurement report a range of techniques to combat labour abuses that we did not find in their modern slavery statements."
Associate Professor Marshall said, "Our interviews show that procurement officers have a sophisticated understandings of the potent labour abuse cocktail of short-stay immigration visas, international student work rules and sham contracting." However, she noted, "These are contract management experts, not labour law experts. Outsourcing of high-risk services like cleaning and security have put procurement officers in a near impossible situation where they are responsible for checking labour conditions in supply chains without the right skills and tools."
The ‘Evaluating the Quality of Modern Slavery Reporting in the Australian University Sector‘ report rates universities on their modern slavery statements. It finds that while universities would be expected to be ahead of the pack, they do not do as well as garment companies, on average.
Carla Unger Chan, chief author of the ‘Evaluating the Quality of Modern Slavery Reporting in the Australian University Sector‘ report said that "Many Universities are failing to comply with the mandatory reporting requirements under the Modern Slavery Act. Although all the universities made public commitments to eradicate modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, a substantial number have yet to translate these commitments into concrete actions that would make a tangible difference to the lives of workers."
ACAN
In November 2017, the Australian Corporate Accountability Network was launched at an event hosted by RMIT University.
The Australian Corporate Accountability Network (ACAN) is a network of civil society organisations, academics and individuals working to promote accountability and respect for human rights by Australian businesses wherever they operate.
Dr Shelley Marshall is on the Steering Committee of ACAN, and was one of its founders.
ACAN will helping to coordinate policy positions between organisations who care about the ethics of business behaviour in Australia in the years to come.
australian Modern slavery Act
The global momentum to eradicate modern slavery has reached Australian shores. It is increasingly common to hear activists, the media, and politicians describe and decry workers found to be entrapped in situations of egregious labour exploitation as modern-day slaves. Businesses, led and cajoled by mining magnate Andrew Forrest, have voiced their commitment to tackling slavery lurking in their own supply chains. There is wide support for enacting modern slavery legislation based on the UK model.
This is all heartening, though not surprising given, in the words of labour law scholar Judy Fudge, ‘no one is “for” modern slavery’. But what exactly is modern slavery? And what does the rise of the concept in Australia mean for how issues of worker exploitation and mistreatment are understood and addressed?
Research conducted by Drs Marshall and Landau highlights problems with the Modern Slavery approach. In a series of blogs they explore why the idea of Modern Slavery has gained so much traction in recent years. They also examine problems with the Modern Slavery approach.
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/the-slave-trade-in-our-own-backyard/news-story/a11b95d95f4e3e37ec1b444e59eb02e1
Australian national contact POint
Like other OECD countries, Australia has a transnational human rights mechanism in the Department of Treasury charged with hearing cases under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises – non-binding principles and standards for responsible business conduct across the globe.
In 2017, Treasury undertook a review of the Australian National Contact Point after considerable pressure from Australian civil society. The final report from the independent reviewer is available here. Treasury was very clear that "Publication does not signal Government endorsement of the report. Treasury is considering the report's findings in consultation with other agencies".
In 2017 Corporate Accountability Research released a report describing the reforms that should occur to the ANCP. For a summary of this report, see the blog by Shelley Marshall and Kristen Zornada.