Family violence policy and online tool
Following the design of a prototype family violence policy for New Zealand
businesses by the Commission, and after an extensive survey of business
attitudes to implementing a family violence policy and mapping of services
for those who want to stop using violence, the Commission was joined by
seven major businesses – The Warehouse, ANZ, Countdown, Vodafone,
Fonterra, Ricoh, and EY – in releasing a model workplace policy and tool:
www.businessworkingtoendfamilyviolence.co.nz
Employers can adapt and use the model policy to address family violence
issues among their employees.
Human rights due diligence
The Commission continues to meet regularly with the Labour Inspectorate
and other MBIE officials to continue the Government’s progress in
embedding human rights due diligence into all-of-government procurement
contracts. The Commission also advised on the Modern-Day Slavery Act
coming into effect in Australia and the impacts it will have on New Zealand
businesses.
Sport and human rights
The Chief Commissioner spoke at the 9th Commonwealth Sports
Ministers Meeting (CSMM) ahead of the opening of the Commonwealth
Games on Australia’s Gold Coast earlier this year. Delegations from 45
Commonwealth nations and territories attended the meeting. His speech
focused on the work of the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport
(CABOS) and the importance of sport protecting and promoting the human
rights of everyone involved, particularly athletes.
The Commission worked with the Commonwealth Secretariat to prepare
a briefing paper for CSMM. The paper called for a greater recognition of
sport as a human right and for the opportunities it offers to achieve the
2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. These were agreed in
the Ministers’ meeting communique, particularly around the need for joint
strategies and action to coordinate policy so it maximises the benefits of
investing in sport.
The Chief Commissioner’s discussion paper States’ Obligations Under
International Human Rights Conventions: The implications for Government
Sport Policy was published as a book by the Commonwealth Secretariat to
coincide with the Commonwealth Games. It examines how human rights
can be protected in and through sport to advance the 2030 Sustainable
Development Agenda and links the Sustainable Development Goals and
targets relevant to sport to the human rights treaties that underpin them.
The Chief Commissioner worked with the Mega Sporting Events Platform
to produce two further resources, Championing Human Rights in the
Governance of Sports Bodies and The Mega-Sporting Event Lifecycle:
Embedding Human Rights from Vision to Legacy.
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Human Rights Commission