As the Federal Senate debates the Modern Slavery Bill this week, the 2018 Australian Dialogue on Business and Human Rights takes place in Sydney today with modern slavery prevention as the key theme.

It’s the fifth time the Global Compact Network Australia and the Australian Human Rights Commission have joined forces to address the ongoing challenges facing business, government, civil society, investors and academia as they strive to prevent and address business involvement in human rights harms at home and abroad.

The Australian Human Rights Commission will conduct an independent review of residential colleges at the University of New England (UNE) in the regional centre of Armidale, NSW.

The University has seven residential colleges, currently home to approximately 1800 students.

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s landmark Change the course: National report on sexual assault and sexual harassment at Australian universities highlighted colleges and university residences as a specific area of concern. In a national survey of over 30,000 university students:

The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Ms Catalina Devandas Aguilar, will be joining the Australian Human Rights Commission for a unique event to mark the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA) on 1 March, 2018.

The event – a panel discussion on the successes and challenges of the DDA – will be hosted at PwC’s Sydney headquarters and facilitated by ABC broadcaster, Wendy Harmer.

Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow has welcomed a Federal Government proposal to legislate against modern slavery.

Commissioner Santow said Government plans to require large businesses to report annually on their actions to address modern slavery are “a good first step”.

“Further action will also be needed to ensure that we fully address the problem of modern slavery,” Commissioner Santow said.

Modern slavery includes human trafficking and practices such as servitude, forced labour and debt bondage.

A new report detailing the strong business case for the financial services industry to consider human rights in their investment decisions will be released today, as investors around the globe become more focussed on responsible investing.

Human rights in investment: The value of considering human rights in ESG due diligence by the Australian Human Rights Commission and EY, debunks the myth that human rights and investment practices are incompatible.

The Australian Human Rights Commission welcomes federal government funding for community legal centres.

“Community legal centres are vital in protecting the basic human rights of disadvantaged people in Australia.

“I am very pleased that Attorney-General George Brandis has announced that the Federal Government will continue to support the community legal assistance sector.

“By reversing proposed cuts to community legal centre funding, the Federal Government is making an important, practical commitment to human rights,” Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow said.