Managing Responsible Supply Chains: Challenges and New Approaches

This seminar showcases the very latest research and policy ideas concerning the responsibilities of firms and governments to ensure fair treatment of employees in supply chains, regardless of the country in which they are employed. The presentations raise important questions such as:

• Why do human rights issues in the global supply chains persist despite ongoing efforts and good intentions of brands and other stakeholders?
• What are key challenges for improving supply chain management?
• What do Australian companies need to report on under the new Modern Slavery Act and is this sufficient?

The seminar will present in-depth research on supplier factory regulation and worker outcomes in Bangladesh post Rana Plaza and relate this research to the broader issues Australian companies face in regulating their global supply chains and responding to the new modern slavery reporting requirements.

About the speakers:

Dr Dorothée Baumann-Pauly is the research director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. She is a business ethics scholar but she also has practical experience managing multi-stakeholder initiatives.

Steve Frenkel is Professor in UNSW Business School. He has published extensively in leading journals and is currently co-leader of an international project on Global Supply Chain Governance funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.

Justine Nolan is an Associate Professor at UNSW Law and the Australian Human Rights Institute. She is a global expert on business and human rights and is currently leading a project on Australian responses to modern slavery and the new reporting requirements.

This event is organised by the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW and hosted by KPMG.

Photo: iStock