In an age where bad publicity can make or break a company's reputation and share price, more and more corporations are scrambling to make human rights part of company policy.

Monash's new Castan Centre for Human Rights is named after prominent Australian human rights lawyer the late Mr Ron Castan.

Once shunned as irrelevant or incompatible with the corporate bottom line - profit - multinational corporations are now smartening up their act in a bid to be seen as good corporate citizens in the eyes of an increasingly media-literate public, says the director of Monash's newly created Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Professor David Kinley (pictured below).

"More corporations are aware that a positive human rights environment is good for business, and that they are acting in their own self-interest when they promote respect for human rights in countries where they operate," he says.

About 15 to 20 years ago, business and the environment were "utterly strange bedfellows", Professor Kinley says. "Today, no self-respecting major company would not make the environment an essential part of their boardroom discussions. The same is happening with human rights issues."

Corporate parlance now cites a new triple bottom line - profit, environmental sustainability and attention to human rights.

The shift in corporate priorities has occurred in response to changes in public perception, says Professor Kinley.

"Customers have shown that they care about how a product is made. If it's produced in a way that contravenes basic human rights, whether that worker is in a sweatshop in Bangladesh or in Australia, then they will not buy that product."

Castan Centre academics are educating governments and corporations about human rights law.

This year, 50 multinationals, including Daimler Chrysler, Nike and Royal Dutch Shell, joined 12 labour associations and watchdog groups in signing a UN-sponsored global agreement committing them to support human rights, eliminate child labour, allow free trade unions and refrain from polluting the environment wherever they conduct business.

But while much of the change has occurred voluntarily as part of a mindset shift, human rights law in relation to corporations is still in its infancy, Professor Kinley says.

"The one element missing from human rights law, both domestically and internationally, is the reference to corporations. And yet, when you consider which big social and economic players have the potential to protect as well as violate human rights, corporations are undoubtedly among them."

The Castan Centre, named after prominent Australian human rights lawyer the late Mr Ron Castan QC, is at the forefront of research into the burgeoning area of human rights law.

As well as conducting traditional academic research, Professor Kinley says, the centre is proactive in pursuing relations with governments and corporations in the application of human rights law and the implications of international legal developments in the area.

"We'll be seeking to influence all the unusual suspects," he says. "It will be the smart companies who are thinking ahead who will want to listen."

		Justice Michael Kirby will launch the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law on 31 October. For more information, contact Professor David Kinley on +61 3 9905 3366.