Businesses may deal with a variety of issues that are associated with human rights. It might be beneficial financially to ignore some of these issues in favor of profit, but there are further ethical, moral, and legal considerations to be made.
Thesis
Whilst Australian businesses may have issues with the complexity of human rights laws and concepts, they have a moral and ethical obligation to protect the human rights of the stakeholders in the company.
Argument 1
Human rights issues affect everyone in the company, and can help to increase morale as well as offer protection to those engaging with the company. As stated in Nolan (in Martin & Bravo, 2015), corporations have a right to conduct business practices without challenging human rights.
Argument 2
Human rights issues are discussed on a much wider scale than they have been before due to the “growing power of the internet and social media” (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2015, p6). This means that not following up on human rights issues might lead to significant harm to the company.
Argument 3
Human rights issues affect people in all levels of the supply chain, and corporations have a responsibility to protect all of those that work for them. It has been noted that young children are often found within the first stages of the supply chain, with children aged seven mining cobalt for smartphones (Kelly, 2016). This type of issue is obviously an ethical one and needs to be addressed by corporations who have the responsibility to uphold human rights breaches on a global scale (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2015).
Restatement of Thesis
Whilst Australian businesses may find it difficult to deal with the complexity of human rights issues, they have a moral and ethical obligation to protect the human rights of the stakeholders in the company.
References
Australian Human Rights Commission, 2015. Human rights in supply chains: Promoting positive practice [WWW Document]. URL https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/publications/human-rights-supply-chains-promoting-positive-practice (accessed 8.30.16).
Kelly, A., 2016. Children as young as seven mining cobalt used in smartphones, says Amnesty. The Guardian.
Martin, J., Bravo, K.E. (Eds.), 2015. The Business and Human Rights Landscape: Moving Forward, Looking Back. Cambridge University Press, New York.
