Society

Our fourth meeting for 2023 included a special presentation by Heidi Roberts, Partner, Responsible Business and ESG Practice at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and Sarah Clarke, Partner, Employment and Labour at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. Heidi and Sarah discussed the key proposed changes under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment Bill, which was introduced to Parliament in September 2023. The meeting also included a presentation from Kirsty Simmonds, ESG Practice Principal and Practice Co-Founder at The Growth Activists. Kirsty discussed the B Corp framework, the growth of certification and what it means for investors.

Our third meeting for 2023 included a special presentation by Nicole Breeze, Chief Advocate for Children and Director of Programs and Advocacy in Australia at UNICEF, and Robyn Parkin, Head of Sustainability at Ethical Partners Funds Management, who presented their research into the rights of a child, which focuses on the safeguarding of children within Australian listed companies. Integrating Child Rights across the ASX provides best practice guidance on how companies can better consider children’s rights, and seeks to deepen the conversation between investors and listed companies about their impact on children and their rights, and how they can be better understood, assessed, disclosed and protected.

Our second meeting for 2023 included a special presentation by Matthew Coghlan, Financial Sector Engagement Manager at Walk Free, who discussed the recently published Global Slavery Index 2023.

Our first meeting for 2023 included a special presentation by Joanne Bauer, Co-founder of Rights CoLab and Interim Secretariat of the TIFD, and Paul Rissman, Co-founder of Rights CoLab, who presented on the Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD), which seeks to empower companies and investors to measure and manage their impacts on inequality, as well as inequality’s impacts on company and investor performance. We will also hear findings from Rights CoLab’s research, What is DEI? Market Signals of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Our fourth meeting for 2022, was a discussion with Daniel Child (not recorded), Industry Affairs and Engagement Manager from the Australian eSafety Commissioner. Followed by the fourth and final Human Rights Working Group Meeting of 2022 which included updates on the most important human rights risks for investors, including conflict-affected and prone areas and issues related to big tech.

In our third meeting for 2022, Professor John McMillan OA, lead of the review of the Modern Slavery Act in Australia, shared a comprehensive overview of the review and valuable context. Andy Symington, KPMG, shared the key findings and recommendations of the Climate Change and Human Rights: A guide for institutional investors, which was produced in collaboration with RIAA’s Human Rights Working Group.