United Nations Business and Human Rights Regional Forum: Australia and New Zealand
Strengthening responsible business practices in turbulent times
DATE
26 - 27 August 2025
VENUE
Storey Hall Conference Centre, RMIT University City Campus, 342 Swanston Street, Melbourne Australia VIC 3000 (near corner w/ Latrobe St)
REGISTRATION
Registration is required
About
The defining responsible business event in the region, giving attendees the opportunity to shape the future of business and human rights in Australia and New Zealand (and beyond).
The inaugural UN Business and Human Rights Regional Forum: Australia and New Zealand (the Forum) will bring together a broad range of stakeholders to strengthen business practices and connect on how businesses manage value chains across our region.
Attendees from government, business, investment, the education sector and civil society will gather to discuss key trends and developments in the business and human rights landscape in our region and globally.
This event delivered with the support of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights will equip attendees to navigate a turbulent landscape with confidence.
Topics include:
- The future of legislation aimed at ending modern slavery and strengthening implementation of human rights due diligence
- Measures to elevate respect for Indigenous Peoples’ in the just transition
- Harnessing responsible AI and other technological developments
- Enabling tangible positive outcomes for affected workers, communities and other groups across complex global supply chains
- The role of investors in leading and enabling business respect for human rights
- Strengthening the access to remedy ecosystem
About the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights was established in 2011 and has a mandate to promote the effective and comprehensive dissemination and implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The Working Group guides and chairs the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, which was established by the Human Rights Council in 2011 and has become the world’s largest global gathering on business and human rights. The Forum serves as a key global platform for stakeholders to discuss trends and challenges in the implementation of the UNGPs and promote dialogue and cooperation on issues linked to business and human rights.
This is the first Business and Human Rights Regional Forum to be held in our region, and complements the UN Working Group’s annual global Forum in Geneva and Regional Forums convened in other parts of the world.
Who attends
Representatives of all interested groups across society are encouraged to participate in and contribute to the UN Business and Human Rights Regional Forum – Australia and New Zealand.
Indigenous Peoples and other affected groups and interested members of the public are all encouraged to attend.
Attendees include:
- Government
- Business
- Advisory firms
- Investors
- Academia
- Unions
- Civil society
- Indigenous Peoples
- Representatives of local communities and other affected groups
Why attend
This Forum offers a platform for participants to consider the future of business respect for human rights in our region.
-
Drive business, legislative and societal action
What changes do we want and need in the next 5-10 years to scale up and improve the quality of business respect for human rights in our region? -
Contribute to the global landscape
How will we contribute to the global business and human rights landscape – particularly in these complex and challenging times? -
Learn how to create meaningful change
How can we ensure that our efforts contribute to meaningful positive outcomes for affected people and communities – both within our immediate region and beyond? -
Connect with like-minded individuals and those with different perspectives
Network with peers across diverse sectors, areas of expertise and stakeholder groups
Why this forum matters
The inaugural UN Business and Human Rights Regional Forum: Australia and New Zealand will take place in Melbourne, Australia 14 years after the unanimous adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights – the authoritative global standard on business and human rights.
Since then, there have been significant efforts in our region to strengthen business commitment to operating with respect for human rights and to scale implementation of human rights due diligence.
This is the first Business and Human Rights Regional Forum co-organised with the support of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights to be held in the Western Europe and Other Groups region of the UN system (which Australia and New Zealand are part of).
Program
Tuesday 26 August 2025
9:00am – 10:00am
Registration
10:00am – 11:00am
Welcome to Country and opening remarks
11:00am – 5:00pm
Concurrent events
Three concurrent in-depth events aimed at:
- Academics and researchers: Australia-New Zealand Business and Human Rights Research Workshop
- Business and investors: UN Global Compact Network Australia Australian Dialogue on Business and Human Rights
- Civil society and affected groups: Civil Society Dialogue on Advancing Corporate Accountability
For more information about the program for these concurrent events, please see information provided via the hyperlink in the bullets above.
5:00pm – 7:30pm
Networking reception and evening plenary:
Human rights, business and turbulent times: Challenges, responsibilities and opportunities
In an era marked by geopolitical conflict, regulatory uncertainty, and accelerating ecological crises, today’s business leaders are confronting challenges that extend far beyond traditional market dynamics. These turbulent times demand more than resilience; they call for leadership, values-driven decision-making, and the meaningful integration of human rights into business strategy and operations.
This high-level, thought-provoking session brings together influential voices from across sectors to examine the realities of our fractured world and how businesses can respond with integrity and foresight.
This is not a conventional panel. Expect a dynamic, interactive dialogue that weaves together strategic insight, lived experience, and critical reflection. The session will explore the real-time interplay between human rights and business in today’s global context—setting the scene for the following day, where these themes will be unpacked in depth as we work together to strengthen responsible business in turbulent times.
Speakers to be announced
Wednesday 27 August 2025
8:30am – 9:00am
Registration
9:00am – 10:30am
Morning Plenary | Business and human rights in our region: Identifying current focus areas, priorities and opportunities
This session will aim to clarify where we are, where we are getting stuck and where we need to go in relation to responsible business conduct (with a focus on respecting human rights) in Australia, New Zealand and the region.
It will introduce some of the key themes, challenges and opportunities that will be considered throughout the day, in relation to actions by governments, business including investors, civil society organisations including unions and others to ensure that business-related human rights harms can be effectively prevented and addressed in line with core international standards.
Speakers to be announced
10:30am – 11:00am
Morning tea
11:00am – 12:30pm
Concurrent Sessions
Concurrent Session 1 | Elevating Indigenous Peoples’ rights and leadership to support a just transition
With the impacts of the climate and nature crises becoming a near constant presence in our newsfeeds and lives, we are seeing the transition to a greener economy accelerate. Done right, this transition presents a unique opportunity to achieve meaningful positive outcomes for the world’s Indigenous Peoples, including the First Nations of Australia and the Māori of Aotearoa, and address the ongoing trauma of colonisation.
This session brings together respected leaders to examine the challenges facing Indigenous Peoples through the green transition, and exchange perspectives on priorities and practical opportunities to elevate respect for the rights and leadership of Indigenous Peoples to support a just and effective transition.
Speakers to be announced
Concurrent Session 2 | Unlocking progress on modern slavery
This session will look ahead and explore what is needed in both Australia and New Zealand to shift the dial and advance more effective strategies for identifying and addressing modern slavery risks and impacts. We will consider whether progress is best achieved through a narrow focus on modern slavery or a broader approach encompassing a wider range of human rights concerns.
Drawing on recent experiences and the evolving responses of business and government in both countries, the discussion will focus on the key issues that must be addressed to more effectively combat modern slavery and facilitate meaningful change.
Speakers to be announced
Concurrent Session 3 | Debating the rise and rise of AI: to the betterment or ill of human rights? — The business of (human) rights in AI innovation
We have entered the AI age, a time when AI emerges as perhaps the single most significant development impacting all facets of life and society. From how we work to if we work, from how we have fun to how we wage war – AI is already impacting a vast array of human rights. There are competing visions of the future of this age – will it be a dystopian future where AI runs amok, trampling on human rights such as our right to privacy, right to work, perhaps even our right to life, or will it be a more harmonious, sustainable future where AI innovation helps us achieve the full realisation of human rights.
*This description was written by ChatGPT.
Speakers to be announced
12:30pm – 1:30pm
Lunch break
1:30 pm – 3:00pm
Concurrent Sessions
Concurrent Session 4 | Leveraging capital: How investors and financial services institutions can drive corporate human rights responsibilities
This session will focus on the role of the financial sector as investors and their use of leverage to press business to undertake and act on human rights due diligence, including when investing in businesses in the arms sector and where business activities affect climate change.
The session will consider how the financial sector, as responsible business actors, can deal with some key issues in these turbulent times. These include dealing with investment risks in a changing global context, navigating challenges linked to armed conflicts and climate change, and responding to varying expectations around human rights in the region.
Speakers to be announced
Concurrent Session 5 | What does ‘good’ look like?: Mainstreaming HREDD into business-as-usual practices
There is an urgent need to develop more sustainable business practices, but can business models sustainably align profit with purpose? Globally there are countervailing forces – some encouraging greater and faster progress on mainstreaming human rights and environmental standards into business operations, with others working to dismantle DEI and ESG programs.
This session will focus on identifying and interrogating replicable business practices that are demonstrating effective human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) and aligning profit and purpose.
Speakers to be announced
Concurrent Session 6 | Strengthening the access to remedy ecosystem
This session will examine the current state of play on access to remedy in relation to three mechanisms (courts, national contact points and national human rights institutions) in Australia and New Zealand.
It will adopt an ecosystem approach to access to remedy in that these mechanisms complement each other. The session will highlight emerging good practices, review current barriers and institutional limitations, and explore the way forward.
Speakers to be announced
3:00pm – 3:30pm
Afternoon tea
3:30pm – 4:30pm
Closing Plenary | Looking ahead: Promising pathways to strengthen business and human rights in our region
Following two days of thought-provoking, inspiring, pragmatic and sometimes challenging discussions, attendees will be invited to get to work.
Through facilitated group and small table discussions, attendees will be encouraged to:
- Reflect back key insights, trends and priorities across from the event’s sessions
- Discuss visions for the future of business and human rights in our region and beyond
- Identify promising pathways forwards - as well as potential obstacles
- Clarify who can do what to support tangible progress and meaningful outcomes
Come prepared to engage actively, listen curiously and contribute generously.
Event map
Host a side event
If you would like to host a side event, please contact
info@unbhrforumanz.org
Support the event
To find out more about supporting the Forum please contact info@unbhrforumanz.org
Contact us
info@unbhrforumanz.org
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