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Article

1 Feb 2016

Author:
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Human Rights Law Centre, Jesuit Social Services, Jubilee Australia, Plan International Australia, Mineral Policy Institute, Oxfam Australia, Save the Children Australia, The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, The Australia Institute, UNICEF Australia, Uniting Church of Australia, World Vision Australia

Australia: Leading NGOs call for a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights

Australia is lagging behind in the global movement to prevent and address corporate human rights abuses and a group of leading NGOs is urging the Government to do something about it. The Human Rights Law Centre’s Director of Advocacy, Rachel Ball, said that if Australia is serious about tackling serious human rights abuses, businesses need to be part of the picture. “Australians have come to expect that Australian companies will uphold a high standard of human rights compliance when operating at home and overseas. It’s vital that we have the laws, policies and practices in place to incentivise corporate compliance with human rights and to hold the violators to account,” said Ms Ball. This week leading NGOs in Australia including Oxfam, World Vision, UNICEF and church groups have called on the Australian Government to develop a National Action Plan on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.