Shanta Martin is currently Chair of the Human Rights Law Centre Board. She is a barrister with over 20 years’ experience leading international corporate accountability cases. Her practice cuts across commercial law and public law, and she is regularly briefed for her business and human rights expertise.

Before being called to the Victorian Bar, Shanta was a partner of a London law firm. There she pioneered litigation on corporate accountability for modern slavery, and led international business and human rights abuse cases arising in Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, and elsewhere.

A former Head of Business and Human Rights at Amnesty International’s International Secretariat and Oxfam Australia’s Mining Ombudsman, her most valuable human rights experience has been working directly with communities and individuals adversely affected by corporate misconduct all over the world. Shanta has been at the forefront of improving business and human rights standards internationally, including in the development of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct.

Shanta is Advisor to the Law Council of Australia’s Business and Human Rights Committee, a Member of the Victorian Bar’s Human Rights Committee and an Independent Examiner for the Australian Government’s National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct (AusNCP).