Researchers, Vinay Orekondy and Steve Duggan, at the Edmund Rice Business Ethics Initiative conducted a survey of Australian Businesses to find out about their Corporate Social Responsibility, in particular on this 60th Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, their involvement with the UN Global Compact. This issue of Good Business is dedicated to their report. Read on for the Introduction.

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In July 2000 the United Nations launched the Global Compact, a policy platform and practical framework for companies all round the world which seeks alignment between business operations and strategies, on the one hand and ten universally accepted principles, on the other. Read on for more about the UN Global Compact.

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Twenty Australian companies were chosen and interviewed, ten are signatories to the Global Compact and ten were comparable non-signatories. The questions were open-ended to better appreciate the company's own articulation of their position. Information sought included: reasons for joining or not joining the Global Compact; implementation of CSR / GC commitments; understanding of human rights, and perception of the company’s role in them; and understanding of CSR / corporate responsibility. Read on for full methodology.

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The results of the survey are presented as pie charts and are divided into two sections, first, questions asked of signatory companies, and second, questions asked of non-signatory companies. Read on to view the results.

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A number of conclusions may be drawn from the results.

• Companies tend to join the Global Compact after an internal change process has already begun.
• Signatories view CSR as principled responsibility, whereas non-signatories view CSR as philanthropy.
• Within human rights, signatories’ prioritise labour rights.
• Companies more readily acknowledge and act on environmental responsibilities than those of human rights.
• Signatories believe the GC will be successful in its goals and in helping their company.
• Signatories are committed to future GC implementation, but may not have considered it in depth.
• GC publicity levels are considered insufficient by signatories.
• For signatories, increased publicity and outreach are the best ways to improve the GC in Australia.
• Signatories imply the need for a better reporting standard.

Read on for detalied analysis of the results.

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Three guiding questions are discussed. These are:

1. Should businesses have a responsibility with regards to human rights, and how far does that responsibility extend?
2. Is the United Nations Global Compact an appropriate tool for aligning human rights and business operations, i.e. helping businesses better integrate human rights principles into their processes, as well as providing an avenue for input for them to give input into human rights development in Australia?
3. If so, how can we move forward the United Nations Global Compact in Australia?

Read on for discussion by way of conclusion.

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