Modern Slavery - Understanding and Moving Beyond Tier 1

Modern Slavery – Understanding and Moving Beyond Tier 1

Join us for an engaging session featuring a diverse group of panellists discussing the

challenges associated with undertaking robust supply chain due diligence, understanding

tier 1 suppliers and practicalities with looking deeper in supply chains, beyond tier 1 suppliers.

The event will begin with canapés, followed by introductions and an interactive opportunity for attendees to share challenges and wins.

We will then hear from Ramila Chanisheff, Chair of the Australian Uyghur Women’s Association, about the challenges for companies trying to address the risk of Uyghur forced labour in China.

Following this, our expert panel will discuss moving beyond tier 1 and bring a wealth of experience to the discussion. Our panellists are R. Joel Coward, environmental and human rights lawyer; Emma Peters, Head of ESG at Cowell Clarke; and Kate Lawson, General Manager of Verimus.

Our Panellists

Ramila Chanisheff
President | Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association

Ramila Chanisheff was born in Urumchi, East Turkistan (Xinjiang, China), moved to Australia with her family. She has lived in Adelaide most of her life but has studied and lived overseas for a period of time.

She has always been an active part of the Uyghur community in Adelaide and is currently the inaugural President of the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association, when it was established in early 2020. She considers herself an activist by default and has been working together with her team on community and also advocacy work since 2017. She is passionate about human rights and has been an active advocate for Uyghur voices to be heard in Australia, educating the general public and lobbying the Australian Government to do more to hold China to account.

R. Joel Coward
Independent Environmental and Human Rights Lawyer

Joel is a globally experienced, environmental and human rights lawyer who applies sustainability data analysis and risk mitigation with kaizen methods to imbed ESG strategies to revenue lines that create value, not compliance cost: from BHP to Tesla.

Joel is qualified as a mining and energy lawyer specializing in human rights and environmental law, sustainability and finance and Asian linguistics.

With 17 years in sustainability across critical mineral mining, petroleum and energy, Joel recently led senior commercial sustainability roles in global copper miner OZ Minerals as Group Manager for Sustainability and Investor Relations where he supported development across modern slavery and value chain transparency, and BHP, as Global Lead for Sustainable, Ethical and Responsible value chain across its $20B procurement, and across BHP's global downstream tradable minerals and maritime value chain. Joel's career in modern slavery and supply chain transparency started over a decade ago understanding conflict minerals, diamonds and forced labour within Central Africa and SE Asian mining and manufacturing.

Joel now acts as an independent advisor to numerous EU, Islamic and Asian banks and multiple critical mineral miners on ESG due diligence, value chain transparency and how human rights in investments is the "new sustainability" because you can't offset slavery.

His work has been recognized by State Street, Blackrock, Australian Ethical Superannuation, Goldman Sachs and Norges Bank for moving sustainability in value chain beyond compliance or risk to value creation in his pursuit of bringing people, planet and profit together to create a self-sustaining world.

Joel is an admitted solicitor to the Supreme Court of New South Wales, an advisory board member to OxCarbon, University of Oxford's carbon credit program, a seasonal guest tutor at Yale Business School on Sustainability and Finance. He is also an aspirational marathon runner and inconsistent souffle maker.

Emma Peters
Director/Head of ESG | Cowell Clarke Lawyers

Emma Peters stands out as a visionary ESG specialist lawyer, whose expertise and innovative approaches make her an invaluable asset to businesses navigating the evolving landscape of corporate responsibility and compliance. Emma’s speciality relates to compliance and strategy pertaining to environment, social and governance matters with expertise regarding modern slavery compliance, bribery and corruption, whistleblowing and sustainability. She dedicates her practice to advising entities on implementing systems and process including policies procedures and conducting investigations. She has also developed an online platform to facilitate entities undertaking supply chain due diligence, supplier non-compliance and remediation.

Kate Lawson
General Manager of Verimus | Cowell Clarke Lawyers

Kate Lawson is General Manager of Verimus, Software and strategic solution with an ESG Compliance solution with a specific modern slavery module. Kate and her team have extensive experience working with clients to map their supply chain to raw materials.

The Verimus ESG Platform simplifies data collection while offering advanced analytics for deeper insights into ESG performance. It enables automated due diligence and supply chain mapping for easier reporting. The platform includes customisable risk methodologies aligned with industry standards and risk tolerance, secure whistleblower hotlines, and grievance case management. It also automates third-party due diligence within procurement workflows and facilitates the management of third-party site audits and non-compliance issues.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Cowell Clarke Commercial Lawyers, 63 Pirie Street, Adelaide, Australia