Australian National Contact Point rejects complaint against G4S

The Human Rights Law Centre and Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) have written to the Australian National Contact Point (ANCP) expressing disappointment at the ANCP’s decision not to investigate our complaint concerning G4S Australia Pty Ltd.

The complaint, made under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, argued that multinational security contractor G4S failed to meet international standards and committed serious human rights violations in relation to conditions and abuse of asylum seekers detained at the Manus Regional Processing Centre. 

The ANCP’s initial assessment and decision not to investigate misconceives and misapplies the OECD Guidelines. Instead of engaging in a serious consideration of whether the complaint raises issues relevant to the implementation of the Guidelines, the ANCP has been influenced by the role of G4S in giving effect to Government policy. This approach fails to recogise that corporate responsibility for upholding human rights exists independently of government policy and companies are not exempt on the basis that their activities are consistent with domestic law.

The HRLC and RAID letter to the ANCP is available here.