Human rights and Australian listed companies OCTOBER 2017 Part 1 of this report was researched and written by Howard Pender, Research Director, and Brynn O’Brien, Executive Director, of ACCR. Part 2 was researched and written by Nina Haysler, Research Project Manager, and Julia Leske, CEO, of CAER on behalf of ACCR. ACCR acknowledges the work of Emma Batchelor and Veda FitzSimons on this report. ACCR extends its gratitude to the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark Ltd. (CHRB) for their agreement to license the use of the CHRB methodology as a basis for this research and for their contribution and cooperation. Any errors or oversights are the responsibility of ACCR, and not of CHRB. CONTENTS Human rights and Australian listed companies ......................................................................................... 1 CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................................. 3 ABOUT THE AUTHORS ........................................................................................................................ 5 ACCR .................................................................................................................................................... 5 CAER .................................................................................................................................................... 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 6 RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 9 For ASX-listed companies and investors .............................................................................................. 9 Additional recommendations for investors ........................................................................................... 9 Part 1: Key Concepts, Relevance and Frameworks ................................................................................ 10 ADVERSE HUMAN RIGHTS IMPACTS: RELEVANCE TO INVESTORS ................................. 10 Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Human Rights Risk: What Is It? ..................................................................................................... 11 Social Responsibility in the Engagement Landscape ...................................................................... 11 Strategic Insights ............................................................................................................................. 12 LEGAL AND NORMATIVE FRAMEWORKS FOR BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS .............. 13 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 13 International Frameworks ................................................................................................................... 13 The US ................................................................................................................................................ 14 The UK................................................................................................................................................ 15 EU ....................................................................................................................................................... 16 Australia .............................................................................................................................................. 17 Part 2: Results and Analysis of Selected ASX Companies ..................................................................... 19 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 19 Summary of Research Process ............................................................................................................ 19 Selection of assessment methodology ............................................................................................. 19 Selection of companies for analysis ................................................................................................ 20 Research companies ........................................................................................................................ 20 Company engagement and integrating company responses ............................................................ 21 Results analysis ............................................................................................................................... 21 Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 22 Australian Results ............................................................................................................................... 22 3 Industry Sector Results ....................................................................................................................... 24 Agricultural ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Medical Supplies companies ........................................................................................................... 26 Extractives ....................................................................................................................................... 27 An International Comparison .............................................................................................................. 29 Sector International Comparison .................................................................................................... 29 Geographical International Comparison ......................................................................................... 30 Qualitative Breakdown ....................................................................................................................... 32 Policy Commitments ....................................................................................................................... 32 Grievance Mechanisms ................................................................................................................... 32 Commitment to Remedy ................................................................................................................. 34 Living Wage .................................................................................................................................... 34 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 35 APPENDIX 1: GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................... 36 APPENDIX 2: ACCR SUBSET OF INDICATORS FROM THE CORPORATE HUMAN RIGHTS BENCHMARK (CHRB) ........................................................................................................................ 41 APPENDIX 3: AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES’ PARTICIPATION IN CORPORATE INITIATIVES RELATED TO HUMAN RIGHTS......................................................................................................... 44 APPENDIX 4: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 46 4.1 Select Assessment Methodology .................................................................................................. 46 About the CHRB ............................................................................................................................. 47 CHRB Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 48 Detail of ACCR methodology......................................................................................................... 49 4.2 Selecting Companies ..................................................................................................................... 52 Agriculture ...................................................................................................................................... 53 Apparel/Medical Supplies ............................................................................................................... 55 Extractives ....................................................................................................................................... 57 Companies with operations in multiple sectors .............................................................................. 62 APPENDIX 5: QUALITY CHECKS PROCESS ................................................................................... 63 4 ABOUT THE AUTHORS ACCR The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) is a not-for-profit association that promotes responsible investment through undertaking and publishing research to evaluate and improve the performance of Australian listed companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. We have a small portfolio of shares that we hold for the purpose of engaging with companies on ESG issues, including through the filing of shareholder resolutions.