04 C H A P T E R
Conclusion 4.1 Business and human rights in Australia The first decade of the UNGPs has created a shared narrative and authoritative framework for understanding the business responsibility for human rights risks and impacts. Internationally and in Australia the UNGPs are increasingly reflected (albeit sometimes slowly) in changes to business practice, industry standards, regulations and litigation. The implementation of the UNGPs is occurring in tandem with a shift in expectations regarding the role of business and investors in managing their impacts on people and the planet. For example, the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer found 78% of Australians surveyed agreed that ‘CEOs should hold themselves accountable to the public and not just to the board of directors or stockholders’.186 As this report has highlighted, there is also a business case for acting on the UNGPs, though this should not be a precursor to their implementation. There are increasing reputational, legal and financial risks for businesses that fail to take their human rights responsibilities seriously. Businesses and investors in Australia and elsewhere are recognising that respecting human rights and the environment is key not only to maintaining their social license to operate but also for long-term value creation. This report highlights areas of progress in government, business and investor uptake of the UNGPs. Modern slavery reporting under the Modern Slavery Act has introduced some Australian businesses to the UNGPs, and their responsibility to respect human rights throughout their value chains. While a group of leading Australian businesses are taking steps to implement the UNGPs, there is significant work to be done to socialise and mainstream the UNGPs within the Australian business and investment sectors, and to incentivise their application beyond the issue of modern slavery. Key gaps in Australia’s uptake of the UNGPs have been highlighted in this report, across a range of human rights concerns, including facilitation of access to remedy, respecting the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and addressing climaterelated human rights harms. Workers and their representatives in Australia and in the supply chains of Australian companies play a crucial but generally underutilised role in implementing UNGPs. They can provide essential information to inform human rights due diligence by monitoring and assisting in preventing conditions that lead to human rights harms. This report also points to the pivotal role that investors can play in the implementation of the UNGPs by setting expectations about rights-respecting behaviour in the market. This role for investors will be increasingly important in the context of the rapid changes expected in society, technology, work and the climate in coming years – and their accompanying human rights impacts. For many businesses and investors, a key first step to integrating the UNGPs into their business practices and decisionmaking is ensuring they have access to sufficient in-house and external human rights knowledge and expertise. In addition, there is work to be done to socialise the UNGPs within Australian Government agencies, and for the Government to take steps to facilitate a more enabling environment for the uptake of the UNGPs by business via supportive, regulation, policy, and backing for industry standards and facilitating avenues for effective remedy. Similarly, the Australian Government’s application of the UNGPs in the context of businesses it owns, controls or provides substantial support and services (including export credit agencies), and its procurement activities, is an area that requires greater attention moving forward, with examination of public procurement to date limited to the issue of modern slavery.
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