Australian Corporate Accountability Network

Dutch Parliament leading the way on Ruggie implementation – Promise for Australia?

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:25:02 +0000

ACAN was encouraged today to hear the news that the Dutch Parliament (only in Dutch; sorry!) has passed a motion requesting their government provide a plan to the parliament on how the Dutch Government intends to implement the newly endorsed UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights.

Such leadership in the area of corporate accountability is what is required throughout the world now, including in Australia. We urge the Australian Government, opposition and minor parties to take notice of this encouraging development and follow the lead of the Netherlands in taking its recent endorsement of the Guiding Principles seriously. We look forward to seeing how our Government here plans to take concrete steps to improving corporate accountability of companies operating in Australia, and Australian companies operating overseas, especially in the global south.

ACAN to Attend ICAR Coalition Meeting

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:22:02 +0000

ACAN will be attending the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable’s first annual coalition meeting in Washington DC on Sept 8 and 9. We’ll be sharing the progress of ACAN so far with key international partners, such as the European Coalition on Corporate Justice, the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability, SOMO, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

The event will be an opportunity for ACAN to deepen our connections with other international corporate accountability networks and strategise on ways to collaborate to further corporate accountability worldwide, especially in the wake of the release of the UN Guiding Principles in June of this year. Check back in after the event for a round up of everything that happened.

Where ACAN is at…

admin — Wed, 25 May 2011 18:51:22 +0000

Recently, the ACAN Secretariat has been bringing like-minded people and organisations from Australia’s vibrant corporate accountability community together to form ACAN Working Groups . Many of these members first became involved with ACAN at our launch and consultation back in June 17 2010, and many others have also come on board, after expressing interest to join ACAN in the months that have passed since.

Our plan over the next few months is to continue supporting each Working Group to slowly generate plans and direction for deepening their collaboration and generation of research, campaign and advocacy initiatives in the corporate accountability area. It’s an interesting time and there is certainly real enthusiasm to ramp up civil society collaboration within Australia’s corporate accountability space. So far, there is a lot going on in the ACAN Working Groups, and more expressions of interest are coming through to be involved in other areas of corporate accountability role in every week. It just gets more and more exciting!

At this stage, the ACAN secretariat hopes to bring together ACAN’s members in late 2011 to broaden collaboration across the ACAN membership and Working Groups, with the overall aim to develop clarity on the Network’s policy platform, and a firm campaign/research direction for how to move forward into 2012. In addition, the Secretariat will present and share key documents related to ACAN’s structure and function, key governance principles and strategic plans.

There are exciting times ahead and we’ll be sure to keep you posted here on our website.

ACAN Supports ANCP Reform

admin — Wed, 25 May 2011 18:50:23 +0000

Recently Mr Frank Di’Giorgio was appointed as Australia’s National Contact Point, as part of his role with the Australian Federal Treasury. The National Contact Point is charged with resolving disputes between people affected by Australian corporate operations and the companies involved – in line with the OCED’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

In what ACAN hopes is an indication of what the rest of his time in the position will be like, Mr Di’Giorgio has organised consultations with civil society in Melbourne and Sydney this month.

This development coincides with the ACAN Secretariat’s lobbying in support of Oxfam Australia’s calls for the Australian Government to reform the National Contact Point. Reform to this important corporate accountability mechanism could provide far greater access to limited forms of resolution for people affected by Australian corporate activities in Australia and overseas.

Oxfam Australia, an ACAN member, along with other Australia civil society organisations, is calling for the Australian National Contact Point to undertake reforms to its structure and function to align more closely with more progressive NCP models in the UK, Norway and the Netherlands.

ACAN forwarded the letter of support for these calls for reform to Mr Di’Giorgio on the eve of the ANCP’s consultation in Melbourne last week. We hope to receive feedback soon.

For more information on the ANCP, follow this link. For additional information on the highest international standards for a national contact point see OECD Watch’s Model NCP guide here.

Reconnecting and following up the ACAN community across Australia

admin — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:02:09 +0000

During the past few weeks, the ACAN secretariat have been reconnecting with Australia’s corporate accountability community. Many of these community members attended ACAN’s launch and consultation on June 17, and many others have expressed interest in being part of ACAN since they became aware of its existence. Our plan over the next month or so is to connect people who are interested in the same working group areas with each other – through this process, possible areas of collaboration for campaigning and advocacy initiatives in the corporate accountability area might become apparent. It’s an interesting time of year especially when one is preoccupied with Christmas festivities and new years resolutions…but there is certainly a real energy to ramp up the advocacy in the corporate accountability space in Australia…watch this space! So far, there is much interest in being involved in one of the many ACAN working groups…and there are expressions of interest coming through for there to be working groups in other thematic areas in the corporate accountability space!

At this stage, the ACAN secretariat hopes to bring together members of ACAN working groups in March 2011 for the purposes of face-to-face sharing and collaboration, with the aim being that plans can be developed for how those involved may wish to collaborate/work together. In addition, the Secretariat will present and share key documents related to ACAN in respect of process and structure, key governance principles, strategic plans, etc.

Exciting times ahead!

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November 25, 2010

Australian Corporate Accountability Network (ACAN)

By acansecretariat

Welcome to the website and blog of the

Australian Corporate Accountability Network (ACAN).

If you are an individual working in the corporate accountability space and are passionate about advocating for a world where Australians corporations operating in Australia and overseas do not have a negative impact on people and the environment, then we would love to hear from you! Browse through the website and blog and let ACAN know how you would like to be involved.

ACAN looks forward to working with you towards a fairer world.

-The ACAN sectariat secretariat@acan.org.au