New research out today on political investorism and insider/outsider market lobbying, which analyses shareholder activism and lobbying of market actors. We argue that political investorism in Australia is shaped by our corporate governance rules and market power of superannuation (pension) funds. We identify a category of ‘unnatural insider’ to describe the tactic of traditional outsiders acquiring insider status for political aims. Case studies analysed include market lobbying and threatened boycotts of banks/insurers over the Adani Carmichael coal mine, shareholder targeting of Coles over modern slavery, and superfund divestment campaigns.
Tag Archives: Corporate Governance
Broken Promises: business failure on modern slavery
A new report, Broken Promises: Two years of corporate reporting under Australia’s Modern Slavery Act, examines the second year of corporate statements submitted to the Government’s Modern Slavery Register by 92 companies sourcing from four sectors with known risks of modern slavery: garments from China, rubber gloves from Malaysia, seafood from Thailand and fresh produce from Australia.
It finds that:
- 66% of companies reviewed (down from 77% in the first year) are still failing to comply with the basic reporting requirements mandated by the legislation, with some companies not submitting reports at all;
- Over half (56%) of the commitments made by companies in the first year of reporting to improve their modern slavery response remained unfulfilled based on their second year statements;
- 43% of companies reviewed (down from 52% in the first year) are still failing to identify obvious modern slavery risks in their supply chains;
- There is a mere 6% increase in the number of companies appearing to be taking some form of effective action to address modern slavery risks, with two in three companies still failing to act.
Seafood, rubber gloves, oranges: tainted by modern slavery?
If your clothes are made in China, rubber gloves from Malaysia and seafood sourced from Thailand, researchers are warning you may be at risk of supporting modern slavery practices.
Those were identified as the sectors with the highest risk of modern slavery in a new report, produced by a coalition of human rights organisations and academics.
And despite previous warnings of the risks to Australian companies sourcing these products, little has changed to improve the risks.
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Using Market Devices to Address Labour Abuses
This study examines how the risk of labour standards noncompliance can be rendered calculable and commensurable through a market device. We present a case study of the Cleaning Accountability Framework (CAF), an industry certification scheme, which seeks to address labour exploitation in the Australian contract cleaning industry. We pay particular attention to the central device of the certification scheme – the pricing schedule. We examine how the pricing schedule shaped the calculative space informing contracting parties during the procurement process. In doing so, the pricing schedule increased transparency around the potential risk of labour standards noncompliance. The nature of this transparency and the perceived objectivity of the pricing schedule acted to reshape the market for contract cleaning, resulting in a redistribution of accountability for labour exploitation. We also examine how the pricing schedule formed part of a wider framework of accountability, and how these mechanisms enabled strategic co-enforcement of labour standards compliance by supply chain stakeholders. Overall, our study indicates the potential for accounting practices to play a more active role in shaping how markets address modern slavery risks.
The Law Down Under Podcast: Modern Slavery
UN report on China’s abuse of Uyghurs: What Should Australia Do in Reponse?
For three years, Sadam Abdusalam watched his newborn grow into a toddler through the screen of a mobile phone. He was thousands of kilometres away in Australia, and his son Lufti and his wife Nadila were stuck in China’s Xinjiang province, unable to leave.
A Uyghur originally from Xinjiang, Mr Abdusalam was separated from his family for three years after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seized Nadila’s passport in 2017. He said the CCP began taking “as many” Uyghurs’ passports as they could in that year.
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Envisioning Wellbeing Economies through the Australian Fashion Industry Context
Sustainability leaders, experts, industry and innovators from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific came together to share their knowledge on sustainability challenges and opportunities in the Oceania region as part of a major international sustainability event.
Coordinated by Future Earth Australia, Australian Academia and government partners hosted the sustainability-focused event in Brisbane from 29 June – 1 July 2022.
Sessions were held over three days and covered any aspects of sustainability: climate change, Indigenous knowledges, coastal resilience, urban sustainability, synthetic biology and more. It will focus on sustainability issues and challenges unique to Oceania.
The Oceania Satellite Event built on the outcomes of the inaugural SRI2021 Congress last year in Brisbane, that featured more than 2000 attendees from over 100 countries.
Wellbeing Economies through Fashion
- 0:04 Welcome from Moderator : Assoc. Prof. Samantha Sharpe
- 2:12 Wellbeing Economy – Sufficiency – UTS/ISF – Dr.Monique Retamal
- 10:04 Reuse / Repair – Monash – Aleasha McCallion
- 18:05 Policy & Stewardship – QUT – Assoc.Prof. Alice Payne
- 26:30 Inclusive fashion Practices and Intersectionality – USC – Deborah Fisher
- 34:36 Circularity – Monash – Julie Boulton.
- 47:04 Modern Slavery – UNDA – Assoc.Prof. Martijn Boersma
- 55:33 Regenerative Business models – UTS ISF – Karina Kallio
- 1:04:40 Discussion
Modern Slavery Risks in the Cleaning and Security Industry
This briefing session brings together academic experts in the fields of modern slavery, labour law compliance, supply chain due diligence and temporary migrant workers, to share insights and advice on how universities can demonstrate leadership in promoting good labour practices. The aim of this briefing is to assist relevant stakeholders in the higher education sector to understand their role in promoting good labour practices, and provide guidance on practically how to do this. This briefing is aimed at professionals working in university procurement and contract management, university modern slavery working groups, university risk and compliance, cleaning and security contractors that currently hold contracts at university campuses.
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Why a degree in modern slavery is a valuable addition to your CV
Modern slavery may seem a distant issue in Australia, but a new course will teach graduates why an understanding of it is increasingly important in every business
It might be easy to imagine, especially in Australia, that slavery is a thing of the past. But an estimated 15,000 people were living in conditions of modern slavery here in 2016, through forced marriage and labour, sexual exploitation, debt bondage and human trafficking – exploitation that disproportionately affects women, children, asylum seekers and migrants. Globally, in that same year, 40.3 million victims were being abused.
Martijn Boersma is an associate professor of human trafficking and modern slavery at the University of Notre Dame Australia, where a new course aims to provide the skills and knowledge that will enable people to work proactively to put an end to the exploitation of vulnerable people.
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Modern Slavery and Climate Change – Towards an Integrated Approach
Climate change has made millions vulnerable to modern slavery. Displacement and migration because of climate change creates a nexus of harm that pushes people to accept work that actively contributes to environmental destruction of forests, fisheries, waterways and land. Weak regulation and enforcement, corruption, a lack of political will and the lure of profits combined with vulnerability of people creates a vicious circle of opportunity for forced labour, child labour, debt bondage and slavery. In this webinar, speakers explored how an integrated approach to addressing modern slavery, climate change and environmental destruction can lead to impactful interventions by governments, communities, workers and business.
Hosted by: Jenny Stanger, Anti-slavery Taskforce, Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
Facilitated by: Dr Martijn Boersma, Associate Professor of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking at University of Notre Dame Australia
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