Positions Vacant: Co-Chairs ALHR National Business and Human Rights Subcommittee

May 9, 2017

About the Role

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) is seeking expressions of interest from experienced lawyers to Co-Chair our National Business and Human Rights Subcommittee (BHR Subcommittee).

The two Co-Chairs will be responsible for leading ALHR’s work in the business and human rights space at a national and international level.

The successful applicants will be lawyers who are passionate about business and human rights and have significant knowledge, experience and expertise in the area. The purposes of these roles are to facilitate research, coordinate submissions and comprehensive advocacy on business and human rights, and to present them to key legal and political figures in order to keep the thematic area at the forefront of public discussion.

Please refer to the attached position description for further details of the relevant selection criteria for the roles.

ALHR’s BHR Subcommittee was launched in September 2015 and has attracted a strong membership base, comprising over 70 lawyers, academics and law students, in Australia and beyond, with a keen interest in business and human rights issues.

The BHR Sub-Committee has been, and continues to be, highly active in advocating for implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Australia. In particular, the BHR Sub-Committee has done extensive work in advocating for the adoption of a National Action Plan to implement the UN Guiding Principles. This will continue to be a major focus of the subcommittee’s work.

Advocacy to address modern slavery has also been a focus of the subcommittee, including an extensive submission to the current Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into Establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia.This work will likewise continue to be a strategic priority.

About ALHR

ALHR was established in 1993 and is a national association of Australian solicitors, barristers, academics, judicial officers and law students who practise and promote international human rights law in Australia. ALHR has active and engaged National, State and Territory committees and a secretariat at La Trobe University Law School in Melbourne. Through advocacy, media engagement, education, networking, research and training, ALHR promotes, practices and protects universally accepted standards of human rights throughout Australia and overseas.

ALHR utilises thematic subcommittees to increase the impact of our advocacy and has adopted a co-chair management structure within them. ALHR currently has a total of 8 subcommittees, including:
• Refugee Rights Subcommittee
• Disability Rights Subcommittee
• Freedoms Subcommittee
• Human Rights Act(s) Subcommittee
• Indigenous Rights Subcommittee
• Business and Human Rights Subcommittee
• LGBTI Rights Subcommittee
• Women and Girls’ Rights Subcommittee

A focus on thematic human rights areas has engaged our members allowing them to concentrate on particular human rights issues and enabling ALHR to deliver a key promise to our paid membership by offering them a voice on human rights and law reform in Australia. This thematic focus also serves to increase the impact of our strategic advocacy and enables ALHR to efficiently target areas of critical focus for Australian human rights practice.

For details concerning this role , please contact

Kerry Weste, Vice President, ALHR

Email : vicepresident@alhr.org.au