Human rights

Woodside conducts business in a way that respects the human rights of all people, including our employees, the communities where we are active, and those working within our supply chains.

IMPORTANT TOPIC

Woodside conducts business in a way that respects the human rights of all people, including our employees, the communities where we are active, and those working within our supply chains

Our business conduct is informed by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which defines the accountabilities of governments in protecting human rights, and of business in respecting human rights.

Our approach¹

Our approach is informed by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Guiding Principles define the accountabilities of governments in protecting human rights and of business in respecting human rights. Woodside’s commitment to human rights is set out in our Human Rights Policy and further detailed in Our Approach to Human Rights document.

Collaboration enables Woodside to continue to learn and improve. For example, in Australia Woodside continues its involvement with the Human Rights Resource and Energy Collaborative which enables resource and energy companies to share learnings and develop best practice. The group provides a forum for sharing human rights experiences including in relation to supply chain issues and remedy. We also work with other organisations to further develop our human rights approach and understand emerging issues. Examples of these organisations include International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, Business for Social Responsibility, Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR). In addition, we also participate in the United Nations Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights.

Human Rights Policy

We are continuing to strengthen our approach to human rights due diligence across our post-merger business to identify, prevent and mitigate potential adverse human rights impacts of our operations and business relationships. We use a number of tools such as:

Annual country risk assessments
Supplier self-assessment questionnaires
Additional vetting for suppliers based on location and jurisdiction
Third party global risk screening tool
Marine vessel assurance, which includes human rights
Social impact and opportunity assessments and human rights impact assessments

These tools form part of our human rights approach and enable us to understand our potential human rights risks to people. An update of our salience assessment for our post-merger global portfolio was conducted in 2023 with the support of an independent business and human rights expert. The update included a review of our identified potential human rights at risk of the most severe negative impact through the company’s activities and business relationships.

We continue to train our employees and contractors on human rights including their roles and responsibilities. In 2023, we commenced focussed awareness sessions for key areas of the business on our approach to human rights and piloted a one day sustainability course as part of our Navigator leadership program which included human rights and modern slavery.

This section refers to current intentions, plans or stated targets (where applicable). It also outlines information regarding our Management System and relevant processes and procedures. Where we refer to our activities without reference to a previous calendar year or using present tense, the relevant content may be updated from time to time at our discretion but no reliance should be placed by the reader on this page being up-to-date. We also recommend checking our Announcements page regarding our most recent business activities.

Our performance¹

Our multi-disciplinary Human Rights Working Group met eight times during 2023. This working group reviews existing and potential human rights risks, whilst also sharing trends and lessons learnt.

This section refers to our performance within a specific time period. Please note that the relevant year, where the activity applies, is stated where appropriate. Where we refer to our activities without reference to a previous calendar year or using present tense, the relevant content may be updated from time to time at our discretion but no reliance should be placed by the reader on this page being up-to-date. We also recommend checking our Announcements page regarding our most recent business activities.

Featured case study

Applying our human rights approach to solar opportunities

There have been a number of reports relating to modern slavery risks in the global solar photovoltaic supply chain. Due to the complexity of solar supply chains, there are several challenges to completing comprehensive due diligence of the full end to end supply chain, particularly the upstream supply of raw materials used in the manufacture of solar panels.

View case study

Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights Annual Report (2022)

Our Approach to Human Rights

2022 Modern Slavery Statement

2021 Modern Slavery Statement

2020 Modern Slavery Statement

Supplier Code of Business Conduct

Whistleblower Policy

Human Rights Policy

Code of Conduct