Fortescue complies with global standards on business and human rights and takes a leading role in the Australian business community on human rights. 

 

Protecting human rights

 

Fortescue is committed to respecting and promoting the human rights of all people including our employees, the communities in which we operate, those within our supply chains and those who may be impacted by our activities.

We conduct business in a manner consistent with the:

Fortescue is also a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact.

Our Human Rights Policy and Employee Code of Conduct and Integrity Policy form the foundation documents for human rights protection across Fortescue.

We ensure the protection of human rights including by:

  • Actively communicating our approach and expectations to all stakeholders including suppliers and partners.
  • Engaging with stakeholders to understand the impacts of our activities and working with them to optimise benefits and limit negative impacts.
  • Undertaking ongoing due diligence and risk assessments to identify, prevent and mitigate the adverse impacts of our activities, capturing outputs in our corporate risk register.
  • Providing access to remedy via our Grievance Procedure.
  • Seeking to secure the consent of Traditional Custodians for projects located on their traditional lands.
  • Considering human rights in our sourcing and purchasing decision processes and sharing our expectations via contract clauses.
  • Participating in engagement sessions related to human rights policy and regulatory development.

Where difference exist between internationally accepted human rights principles and the local laws/regulations where we operate, Fortescue will apply the highest standard.

The day-to-day implementation and coordination of Fortescue’s human rights activities is undertaken by our Sustainability Team in close collaboration with other areas across the business including, Corporate Governance, Procurements and Logistics, Security, Major Projects, People, Shipping and Communities teams. 

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Modern Slavery


Fortescue opposes all forms of slavery in its operations and the operations of our suppliers.

Modern slavery is one of the biggest human rights issues facing the world and as a leader in the resources sector, Fortescue recognises our vital role in working collaboratively with our suppliers, government and the community to address this issue.

We are committed to identifying, assessing and mitigating human rights impacts, providing access to remedy through effective grievance mechanisms, and ensuring continuous improvement to strengthen our actions. We work in collaboration with our suppliers to eradicate modern slavery from our supply chain.  

Transparency and accountability are both critical elements to eradicating modern slavery. To date, we have published three Modern Slavery Statements to detail our supply chain, risk categories, key countries and spend. These statements outline the actions we have taken to assess and address modern slavery risks in our business and supply chain. 

Our FY21 Modern Slavery Statement was released in December 2021.

 

Procurement and Suppliers 


Fortescue procures a wide range of products and services and recognises that its procurement responsibilities extend beyond our supplier relationships. We are committed to ensuring our procurement practices meet the highest standards.

Fortescue’s Procurement Policy outlines our approach to procurement which includes a zero tolerance for modern slavery in our supply chain.

The Sustainable Procurement Standard outlines Fortescue’s expectations of its suppliers and their supply chain, in relation to governance, ethics and sustainability matters such as human rights and modern slavery. Compliance with this Standard is taken into consideration during the contract award process and performance assessments during the contract term.

Fortescue’s Standard Terms and Conditions also include modern slavery and/or forced labour provisions. 

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Collaboration and Partnerships 


The eradication of modern slavery requires a collaborative approach where government business, civil society and the wider community work together to address human rights and modern slavery issues.

Fortescue proudly works collaboratively with the following groups to achieve this joint goal:

 

Feedback

 

You can provide feedback directly to Fortescue by using the “Contact Us” link to submit an online enquiry form. Please select the “Community Enquiries” enquiry type in the drop-down box on the form. 

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Whistleblower Hotline

 

Fortescue’s Whistleblower Hotline is operated externally and is available for anyone to confidentially raise genuine concerns, seek further assistance and report potential conduct breaches, including concerns related to human rights. 

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