BHRIGHT News, September 2026 

Dear members and friends of BHRIGHT,

It's been a busy past few months at the Centre. Plenty of highlights, with several detailed below. We are so proud of the exciting and imapctful work that our researchers are up to. There were books launched, grants won, roundtables convened and policy submissions made. Additonally, we held the inaugural BHRIGHT Seed Grants scheme to support the work of our researchers - especially early-career researchers. The 6 successful projects are noted below. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of these projects in the months and years to come. 

We have some fantastic events lined up for the coming months - including, in partnership with our sister-RMIT centre - the Centre for International Development - to host Prof. Surya Deva - the current United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development for a public lecture, evening of Oct 1. Details below. All are welcome! 

As always, thank you for your support and engagement with BHRIGHT. If you have a research problem related in some way to the human rights impacts or responsibilities of companies... If you are interested in partnering with us for research, events... or if you simply want to support the work that we do - we would love to hear from you!  Please reach out via: bhright@rmit.edu.au. 

In peace,

Assoc. Prof. Jonathan Kolieb
Director, RMIT Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRIGHT)

Research Funding Success

Congratulations to Professor Shelley Marshall, BHRIGHT founding director for being awarded a presitigious Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. Prof Marshall has been awarded this grant of $1.3 million over 4 years for her project "Reimagining and Re-embedding the Living Wage in the Digital Economy". 

Congratulations Prof Marshall for this incredible grant! 

Recent Initiatives and events

Roundtable on Gender, Modern Slavery and the Fashion Industry

BHRIGHT gender theme lead Dr Melissa Wheeler and colleagues hosted an engagement event in August, entitled Threads of Change: Modern Slavery in Fashion – The Human Rights Impact on Women. It was a collaboration between RMIT Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRIGHT) – Gender Theme, WEFT Research Centre, Social Enterprise Research Network (SERN), and RMIT University School of Fashion & Textiles. 

This round table brought together academics, fashion for purpose SMEs, social enterprises, large scale corporates, and sector experts to explore the ongoing challenges of modern slavery in the fashion sector, with a particular focus on the gendered dimensions of exploitation and vulnerability. Most importantly, the conversation won’t end with the event. Participants are now collaboratively developing the key insights, discussions, and industry case studies from the evening into an NTRO (a report), with the aim of contributing some practical recommendations for both industry and policy - as well as a submission on the Australian Government's proposed amendments to the Modern Slavery Act. 

Book Launch for Property Law and Climate Change: Inextricably Linked 

On 29th June, BHRIGHT hosted the book launch for "Property Law and Climate Change: Inextricably Linked", co-hosted with the RMIT Enabling Impact Platforms. The book was co-authored by BHRIGHT Co-Theme Leader for Climate Change and Environment, Dr Vanessa Johnston and Assoc Prof Ben France-Hudson, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 

Dr Johnston and A/Prof France-Hudson's book explores the failure to include property law in climate policy and regulatory frameworks thereby undermining their effectiveness. Property law needs to become part of climate change policies they argue. The book was launched by The Honourable Brian Preston, Chief Justice of the NSW Land & Environment Court, with a speech delivered by Prof Nicole Graham, University of Sydney, and the evening facilitated by Prof Diana Bowman, the inaugural Dean of Law at RMIT University. 

To purchase your own copy or for more details on the book, follow the link here.   

BHRIGHT hosts Dr Simon Adams for Public Lecture and Roundtable

Making Digital Public Infrastructure Work for Women and Girls   

Led by Prof. Penny Weller, BHRIGHT hosted Making Digital Public Infrastructure Work for Women and Girls – Exemplar Stories.  The event heard valuable discussions on building digital public infrastructure (DPI) as a way to address longstanding barriers that women and girls face in accessing financial inclusion and essential services. Michelle O'Byrne, Australia's Ambassador for Gender Equity, provided opening remarks which outlined the challenge and opportunity: "Because the choices that we make now about design, about governance, about investment, will shape who gets to benefit from a digital future. And if we design it with women and girls at the centre of that, as part of all of that work, if we invest in inclusion from the start. If we listen to those who are, quite frankly, usually excluded from the design process, then DPI can be an incredibly powerful force for equality." 

The event also celebrated the launch of Making Digital Public Infrastructure Work for Women and Girls: Exemplar Stories, a publication that highlights concrete examples of gender-intentional DPI in development and implementation around the world. The event was co-hosted by the RMIT Centre for Human–AI Information Environments (CHAI), and organised in collaboration with UN Women, Co-Develop, the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure and Tech Council of Australia.   

BHRIGHT hosts Roundtable with Sedex 

BHRIGHT facilitated a roundtable discussion with Sedex (a provider of tools to over 100,000 companies to support efforts towards ethical and sustainable supply chains). Interesting ideas exchanged on some of the challenges and opportunities in achieving responsible and sustainable supply chains in theory and in practice.

We thank Sedex's Alexander Walrut, Marianna Jolla and Azusa Yamamoto for this valuable roundtable and information exchange. 

BHRIGHT Impact and Research   

BHRIGHT contributes submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion 

BHRIGHT contributed a unique submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. Grounded in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, our submission focused on the responsibility of the Australian business sector to help combat antisemitism, racism and strengthen social cohesion in Australia.  

Business activity touches every Australian, of every faith, cultural background and walk of life, everyday – as employees, customers, students, suppliers, investors, online users and community members – giving business the power to make impactful change. 

The Submission put forward 24 recommendations, structured around three core recommendations to the Commission: 

1. Build the legal and regulatory architecture to enable business to address antisemitism and strengthen social cohesion.  
2. Equip business to identify and respond to antisemitism.

3. Mobilise business as a builder of social cohesion. 

BHRIGHT’s full submission can be found on our website following the link here. 

Strengthening Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 

In May, BHRIGHT along with over 100 human rights organisations, university entities, academics, businesses, investors, unions, civil society and survivor advocates, signed an open letter to the Attorney-General calling for the need to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act through modern slavery risk-based due diligence requirements. 

The joint letter came three years after the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act recommended introducing due diligence requirements beyond reporting and obligate effective action to identify, monitor and address modern slavery.  

On 16 July, the Federal Government announced it will be proposing reforms to strengthen Australia’s modern slavery laws, including with new offences for large businesses who fail to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains, new civil penalties to address non-compliance under existing requirements under the current Act, and practical guidance and education to understand and address modern slavery risks in their supply chains. The Australian Government has recently opened its consultation and call for submissions for Strengthening Australia’s response to modern slavery in supply chains, closing 25 September 2026. 

BHRIGHT Members attend SASE 2026 Conference in France

BHRIGHT members including, A/Prof and BHRIGHT Director Jonathan Kolieb, Professor Shelley Marshall, Dr Ema Moolchand and PhD candidate Laura Simic delivered papers at the 28th Annual Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) 2026 in Bordeaux, France. The 2026 Theme for the Conference was Fighting Divisions: Conflict and Power in a Post Globalisation Order.

New video launched on responsible business practice in conflict-affected areas

A/Prof Jonathan Kolieb contributed his expertise on international humanitarian law and the importance of responsible business practice in conflict-affected areas, in the recently launched video by the Peace Nexus Foundation: Why IHL Matters for Investors - Especially Now by Business and Conflict Community of Practice.  

The video provides information for businesses, advocates and stakeholders on international humanitarian law, why heightened due diligence matters, and the importance of investors and companies to be discerning in how business activities impact conflict dynamics and the communities where they operate. Watch the video on youtube here. 

Publication on Corporate Responsibility in responding to Climate Change 

Dr Jayanthi Kumarasiri, BHRIGHT member, recently published the journal article Interpreting climate accountability: sustainability managers’ views of business–society–nature relationships over time. The study explores the important role of corporations in mitigating and responding to climate change, and how climate accountability is articulated by sustainability managers of businesses over time. The article was published in the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. 

RMIT students produce animated videos on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

BHRIGHT partnered with RMIT's award-winning School of Design on this creative and educational project for RMIT Bachelor of Animation Studies students. Led by Ms. Laura Eldar, Associate Lecturer in the Bachelor of Animation Studies students were tasked to develop and create a short-animated film on a human right, highlighting a human rights issue and why protecting human rights is so important. 

One of best films - here - addressed the impact of generative AI (GenAI) on everyone's "right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author." - as per Article 27(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The video was produced by Aster Yang, Wendy Dang and Chloe Hidalgo. 

If you are an industry partner or are interested in developing similar educational resources in human rights and responsible business practice, please reach out: bhright@rmit.edu.au.  

Supporting BHR Research: BHRIGHT Seed Grants 2026 

In August, BHRIGHT finalised our second round of seed grants that aim to support new and impactful research collaborations for BHRIGHT researchers. We are pleased to have offered six grants over Rounds One and Two for the BHRIGHT Seed Grants in 2026!

We are pleased to announce our BHRIGHT Seed Grant Scheme recipients for 2026:

Dr Thuy Nguyen (Accounting, Information Systems & Supply Chains): Challenges in Supply Chains’ Responsible Business Conduct Practices in Emerging Economies – Case of Vietnam

Dr Melissa Wheeler (Management): Collaboration as a Lever for Ethical Visibility: Power, Narratives, and Labour Representation in Fashion-Based Social Enterprise Partnerships

Dr Elizabether Shi and Dr Neerav Srivastava (Law): Privacy Laws and Employee Protection Under New Statutory Tort of Privacy

Dr Jayanthi Kumarasiri (Accounting, Information Systems & Supply Chains): Mandatory Climate Reporting's Impact on Investment Analysis and Decision making

Dr Caitlin Murphy (Law): Benefit Sharing Revisited: Global Perspectives on Critical Minerals

Dr Darshan Datar and Dr Phoebe Galbally (Law): Reevaluating the Privacy Act in an age of neurotech: Assessing THE NEED FOR change from A business and human rights perspective

Congratulations to our recipients! 

Upcoming Event: More weapons, less peace? Roadmap for a peace economy: Public Lecture with Professor Surya Deva, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development

BHRIGHT and the RMIT Centre for International Development (CID) are pleased to host a public lecture by Professor Surya Deva: "More weapons, less peace? Roadmap for a peace economy" on Thursday 1st October 5:30-7:00pm on RMIT Melbourne Campus. 

Prof. Surya Deva currently serves as the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development, and is the Director of Macquarie University's B&HR Access to Justice Lab and the Environmental Law Research Centre.  

The Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded the highest number of state-based conflicts in 2025 since the Second World War. This is so despite the world military expenditure rising to about USD2.9 trillion in 2025. What explains this? Who is benefitting from these conflicts? How to achieve peace and security without consuming the resources that should be utilised to realise human rights and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals? 

In this public lecture, Prof. Deva will draw on his 2026 report prepared for the UN General Assembly (“Peace for development”) and make a case why states and companies should move away from funding war economies. By building on various aspects of the right to development, he will outline four interrelated components – foundational, preventive, institutional and deterrent – of a roadmap for a peace economy.  

Date: Thursday 1st October 2026     Time: 5:30 - 7:00pm 

Location: Storey Hall, Building 16 at 348 Swanston St , RMIT Melbourne City Campus  

This is a free event, but registration is essential. Follow the link here to register your attendance.  

Opportunities to Partner and Collaborate

Connecting BHR Interns with Industry

BHRIGHT academics currently teach 300+ undergraduate Law and Business students a course on Business and Human Rights each year.  This is the first and only compulsory course specifically on BHR in any Law professional degree in Australia, (and perhaps globally!). So while we are training and inspiring the next generation of BHR practitioners - we are always looking for industry placements and experiences for them. 

As such, if you or someone you know in industry, government or civil society - may be able to host a student intern, offer mentorship or opportunities for our students with a passion and interest in BHR ----- we'd love to hear from you!

Practitioners-in-Residence and Scholars-in-Residence

BHRIGHT is Australia’s first and only research centre focused on Business and Human Rights. Through multi-disciplinary research, engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, and education we provide thought leadership to advance Business and Human Rights related policy and practice nationally and internationally. Our mission is to contribute research, education and practical support to ensure that businesses respect the human rights of workers, customers, and communities where they operate, as well as throughout their national, regional and global value chains. The Business and Human Rights research agenda benefits from multidisciplinary approaches. 

Are you a BHR or BHR-adjacent researcher or would like to become a BHR researcher? Are you a BHR practitioner looking to visit Melbourne? BHRIGHT is accepting applications from researching academics, or professionals engaged in business and human rights to visit BHRIGHT as Scholar-in-Residence or Professional-in-Residence. 

Visitors in-residence are afforded space to think, research and write at RMIT Melbourne City Campus, with library access, opportunities to contribute to seminars, engage in collaborations with BHRIGHT members. 

Keep in touch with BHRIGHT by following us on LinkedIn, YouTube or by visiting our Website.    

Acknowledgement of Country

BHRIGHT and RMIT University acknowledge the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. BHRIGHT and RMIT University respectfully acknowledge their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. BHRIGHT and RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.