The Global Compact Network Australia and the Australian Human Rights Commission are convening Australia’s first national multi-stakeholder, multi-sector dialogue on business and human rights.
Australian businesses increasingly understand their human rights-related risks and responsibilities, and also the opportunities that positive engagement with human rights can bring – from Indigenous engagement, to supply chain management, and gender diversity to investments in health and education. Other stakeholders including government, civil society, academia and investors are exploring ways that they can support business to manage human rights-related challenges at home and abroad and some are putting increasing pressure on business to know and show that they are respecting human rights.
The Dialogue will:
- Take the pulse on where business and human rights is at for Australian businesses operating domestically and internationally and possible next steps;
- Build participants’ understanding of business and human rights in a practical way, through highlighting current leading practices;
- Identify and explore challenges and opportunities for business, and the role that other stakeholders can play by working with and supporting business;
- Build peer and multi-stakeholder networks around business and human rights; and
- Contribute Australian perspectives to regional and international dialogue, through the participation of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
The Dialogue will explore current practices, challenges and opportunities through the ‘protect, respect and remedy’ pillars of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the authoritative global standard and key reference point for businesses on the ‘how to’ of meeting the growing expectations they face in relation to human rights.
The format of the Dialogue will be interactive to encourage discussion and learning. The Dialogue will be held under the Chatham House rule.
The Dialogue is invitation only. If you did not receive an invitation directly from the Global Compact Network Australia, please email secretariat@unglobalcompact.org.au to enquire about participating.
