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Human rights

Our commitment to respecting human rights is a vital part of our approach to sustainability, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it reflects our values and is critical to sustainable business practice.

What are human rights?

Human rights are the universal and inalienable rights and freedoms that every person is entitled to regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion or any other status. Human rights recognise the inherent value of each person, based on principles of dignity, equality and respect. 

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood (Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

We are committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights as set out in the International Bill of Human Rights (comprising the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) and the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

While we work to respect the rights of all stakeholders, we particularly focus our efforts on those people most vulnerable to harm, marginalised or at-risk groups, including Indigenous, Traditional and Tribal Peoples

Our Approach to Human Rights

Our Approach to Human Rights

We are committed to respecting internationally recognised human rights as set out in the International Bill of Rights (comprising the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) and the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

Our approach is guided by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the United Nations Global Compact Principles, the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR), the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the ICMM Mining Principles.

Our Approach to Human Rights can be viewed here:

Our Approach to Human Rights

Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, businesses are responsible for respecting human rights. 

Salient human rights issues are defined as human rights that are at risk of the most severe negative impact through our activities and business relationships. In FY24, we conducted an externally facilitated assessment to identify South32’s salient human rights issues. Insights and findings from the assessment will help us to prioritise and focus resources on the salient human rights issues identified. 

We also conduct ongoing human rights due diligence across our operations and business relationships to help us identify, assess, mitigate and remediate where we are responsible for any involvement in human rights risks. Our human rights due diligence includes Human Rights Impact Assessments, Human Rights Risk Self-assessments and supplier human rights assessments. 

While we work to respect the rights of all stakeholders, we particularly focus our efforts on those people most vulnerable to harm, marginalised or at-risk groups, including Indigenous, Traditional and Tribal Peoples.  

We expect our people and our business partners to comply with lawful business practices and applicable South32 policies, standards, procedures and processes, as relevant to the work they are performing for us, including our approach to modern slavery. 

Our activities to manage the risk of modern slavery across our supply chain are outlined in our annual Modern Slavery Statement, prepared in response to the Australian Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) and the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act 2015. 

Read more about our approach and progress to modern slavery risk here.

Applicable to our people, our suppliers and joint venture partners acting on our behalf, our Code of Business Conduct (Code) outlines our expectations relating to human rights. 

We aim to work only with suppliers with strong values and standards of conduct and that share our commitment to lawful business practices. Our expectations of suppliers are outlined in our Code and Supplier Minimum Requirements, available [here]. 

Our activities to manage the risk of modern slavery and other human rights risks across our supply chain are detailed in our 2024 Modern Slavery Statement available here. 

    Our internal security, crisis and emergency management standard defines minimum performance requirements for managing security risks at our operations and projects, including conformance with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR).  

    Learn more here. 

    We are committed to providing accessible and safe grievance and redress channels for stakeholders to raise complaints about human rights. Where we identify that we have caused or contributed to an adverse human rights impact, we will cooperate in its remediation through legitimate processes. 

    Our community complaints and grievance process is aligned with the UNGPs and the UN’s Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework. Reports relating to human rights that are made to our EthicsPoint confidential reporting hotline are managed through our internal business conduct reporting procedures. 

    Find out more about our Speak Up policy here.

    We align with relevant labour relations laws and regulations, including those relating to working hours, working conditions, entitlements to minimum wages and the right to choose unions or association representatives. Our minimum requirements for suppliers state that wages and benefits (including overtime) paid for a standard working week, must satisfy, at a minimum, national legal standards or local industry benchmarks. We work with reputable recruitment agencies and pay for the cost of recruitment activities.

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