Tag Archives: governance

Revealed: Weak Remedy Under the Australian Modern Slavery Act

April 3, 2024Uncategorizedaddressing modern slavery, Australia, companies, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, due diligence, exploitation, forced labour, global supply chains, governance, human rights, human rights abuses, Martijn Boersma, modern slavery, modern slavery act, remediation, Remedy, vulnerable workers, worker exploitationmartijn

Effective remedy is a key element of human rights protection. The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) stress the importance of both state and business entities providing access to effective remedies. Despite this, the effectiveness of remedial mechanisms varies, with remediation emerging as a shortfall in Australia’s efforts to meet international legal obligations and business standards. This research delves into the practical challenges and responses to remediation, leveraging insights from a detailed study on the effectiveness of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (MSA) in Australia. It draws on insights from a comprehensive, multi-year collaborative study to explore how businesses interpret and respond to the remedial requirements outlined in the MSA.

It tackles three pivotal inquiries concerning the provision of remedies:

Whether companies are actively facilitating remediation or merely reporting such actions;
The types of remedies most commonly reported; and
The extent to which key stakeholders are involved in developing these remedies.

The findings, published in a Special Issue of the Journal of Modern Slavery, on “Access to Remedy for Survivors of All Forms of Slavery, Trafficking and Forced Labour” suggest that the Modern Slavery Act falls short in promoting effective remediation processes. It highlights a lack of significant engagement by businesses in remediation efforts under the MSA, indicating that the Act may not be effectively facilitating remediation processes.

Business and Human Rights Training for National Human Rights Institutions in Asia

March 8, 2024Uncategorizedbangkok, business and human rights, civil society, companies, consumers, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, due diligence, global supply chains, governance, government, human rights, human rights abuses, national human rights institutions, training, united nations, united nations development programmemartijn

The United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum for Asia-Pacific took place in Bangkok, Thailand from 5-9 June 2023. Together with Professor Justine Nolan from the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW Sydney and Ahmed Shahid from the Asia-Pacific Forum, I delivered a business and human rights training training over two sessions on 5-6 June 2023. It was designed as a collaborative and interactive program intended to foster knowledge by involving participants in discussions and practical exercises to enhance their ability to handle business and human rights issues.

You can read more reflections below the post. Photo credit: UNDP.

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Muslim countries vote down UN Human Rights Council Xinjiang debate

November 21, 2022Uncategorizedexploitation, forced labour, global supply chains, governance, government, human rights, human rights abuses, Human Rights Council, modern slavery, uyghur, xinjiangmartijn

Uyghur Australians have condemned Muslim-majority member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council for voting down a debate on allegations of human rights abuses against minorities, including Muslims and Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China.

Among the 19 members who voted against the debate were Pakistan, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Australian resident and exiled Uyghur, Arslan Hidayat, described it as another “stab in the back” — singling out the votes from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, both Turkic countries with historical connections to the Uyghur community.

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Modern Slavery Risks in the Cleaning and Security Industry

August 8, 2022Uncategorizedaddressing modern slavery, civil society, cleaning accountability frae, companies, consumers, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, exploitation, forced labour, governance, labour standards, modern slavery act, regulation, Reporting, Supply Chain, supply chains, trafficking, transparency, Unions, vulnerable workers, worker exploitation, working conditionsmartijn

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

June 15, 2022Uncategorizedaddressing modern slavery, Australia, civil society, companies, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ethics, exploitation, Fair Work Ombudsman, forced labour, global supply chains, governance, government, human rights, human rights abuses, labour, labour standards, legislation, Martijn Boersma, migrant workers, modern slavery, modern slavery act, regulation, stakeholders, Supply Chain, supply chains, trade unions, trafficking, transparency, vulnerable workers, work, worker exploitation, working conditionsmartijn

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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2SER Radio Interview – The Myth of the Social License to Operate

July 21, 2022UncategorizedCorporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR, environment, governance, legitimising myths, myth, myths, social, social license to operate, stakeholdersmartijn

In this radio interview on 2SER, I discuss the chapter published in the “Research Handbook on the Sociology of Organizations” on “Organizational Legitimacy and Legitimizing Myths.” It suggests that companies, as an influential and dominant group, want to maintain how they are held to account for their social and environmental impacts, which is through market forces. The research contends that the social license to operate and other concepts such as corporate purpose are hierarchy-enhancing legitimizing myths that uphold this status quo in favour of companies, at the detriment of society.

martijnboersma · 2SER Razor’s Edge – The Myth of the Social License to Operate

The Myth of the Social License to Operate

June 14, 2022Uncategorizedconsumers, Corporate Governance, corporate purpose, corporate social responsibility, CSR, environment, ethics, governance, governments, legitimacy theory, legitimizing myth, Martijn Boersma, myth, regulation, Reporting, social, social dominance theory, social license to operate, stakeholders, Sustainability, transparencymartijn

Over the last two decades many of the world’s largest companies have been involved in scandals, misconduct and dubious ethics. Rather than relying on interventions by public authorities, the dominant governing rationality is informed by the belief that the market is able to balance social, environmental, and financial interests. However, the vast majority of companies that have been involved in ethical transgressions have survived – and have even thrived. Potential damage to the reputation of companies, or threats to their ‘social license to operate’, seems to have had a limited effect. There is therefore reason to believe that market forces are not adequate by themselves to correct corporate misbehaviour.

This chapter from the upcoming ‘Research Handbook on the Sociology of Organizations’ explores the reliance on market forces to correct corporate actions that are not aligned with the common good. It examines to what extent legitimacy theory adequately explains the dynamics around organizational legitimacy, and it proposes an expansion of legitimacy theory to increase its explanatory power: the use of social dominance theory and legitimizing myths expands (organizational) legitimacy as a theoretical construct. In explaining why antagonistic stakeholders continue to rely on market-based approaches, this research suggests that they have either bought into the hierarchy-enhancing myths, or they have not yet developed compelling hierarchy-attenuating myths to challenge the status quo. The chapter concludes with the suggestion that the ‘social license to operate’ and ‘corporate purpose’ are legitimizing myths that uphold the idea that the market can balance social, environmental, and financial interests.

Political investorism: Conceptualising the political participation of shareholders and investors

June 14, 2022Uncategorizedconsumers, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, disclosures, environment, ethics, governance, investors, regulation, shareholder activism, shareholders, stakeholders, transparencymartijn

This article establishes a new basis for examining the participation, mobilisation and impact of investors at a time when market-based activism for social change is rising in prominence. Existing terminology describing the expression of political values through investment decisions lacks conceptual clarity. Political participation by shareholders and other investors is variously described as shareholder activism or socially responsible investment, and currently conceptualised under the banner of political consumerism. However, this term fails to capture the unique political role and diverse actions of investors. We put forward ‘political investorism’ as a cohering term for investment-based political participation to remedy existing conceptual confusion, to distinguish between investors and consumers as political actors and to set an agenda for the future study of market-based activism. This article defines and develops the concept of political investorism, drawing upon illustrative cases from Australia to identify hallmarks, actors and tactics of this form of political participation.

Consultation on Modern Slavery and Worker Exploitation (New Zealand)

June 14, 2022Uncategorizedaddressing modern slavery, civil society, companies, Corporate Governance, corporate social responsibility, exploitation, forced labour, governance, government, human rights abuses, justine nolan, Martijn Boersma, migrant workers, modern slavery, multistakeholder collaboration, Reporting, Supply Chain, trade unions, trafficking, worker exploitation, working conditionsmartijn

Modern slavery and worker exploitation are severe types of exploitation that can be found both internationally and in New Zealand. To address these behaviours, significant collaboration between government agencies as well as civil society, corporations, trade unions, academics, and international partners is needed.

The New Zealand Government sought feedback on a new law aimed at addressing modern slavery and worker exploitation in New Zealand and around the world. The law would introduce new obligations for organisations with operations and supply chains in New Zealand. Below is a submission made by academics and representatives from civil society that work on modern slavery and labour exploitation.

Will Ratification of the ILO Protocol on Forced Labour Make Australia’s Approach to Modern Slavery More Survivor-Centred?

April 8, 2022Uncategorizedaddressing modern slavery, Australia, exploitation, forced labour, forced labour protocol, global supply chains, governance, human rights, human rights abuses, ILO, legislation, Martijn Boersma, modern slavery, ratification, supply chains, trafficking, transparency, vulnerable workers, worker exploitationmartijn

40.3 million people are a victim of modern slavery, 21 million of which are in forced labour.

While these estimates are not uncontentious, recurrent news reports that detail abusive working practices, including modern slavery in Australia and overseas, remind us that this is a real and significant problem.

For example, investigations into the Australian horticultural industry have uncovered a pattern of systemic underpayment and abuse of workers. Similarly, the production of rubber gloves in Malaysia is tainted by exploitative practices, such as excessive recruitment fees, withholding of passport and wages, threats to workers and forced overtime.

In the last four years, the Australian Government has taken steps to address workplace exploitation in the operations and supply chains of Australian companies and this week it ratified the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Protocol on Forced Labour.

With the ratification of the ILO Protocol on Forced Labour, Australia inches closer to making its response to modern slavery more survivor-centred, placing increased emphasis on the rehabilitation and compensation of those that have been exploited.

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