The Australian Human Rights Commission hosted a roundtable on mega sporting events and human rights in the lead in to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia on Octobier 31st. Human rights leaders teamed up with business, sporting, government and civil society stakeholders to discuss the challenges and opportunities in integrating human rights in major sporting events in Australia and the Commonwealth more broadly.

Co-hosted by the Australian Human Rights Commission and KPMG, the event included a panel discussion and practical workshop sessions exploring issues such as embedding a commitment to human rights in the planning of mega sporting events, avoiding adverse impacts in procurement and employment, and creating positive human rights impacts from such events.

Commission President, Professor Gillian Triggs, welcomed the opportunity to support the efforts of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) to bring a human rights approach to these Games.

“In taking this approach, GOLDOC is building on work undertaken for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, which was the first mega sporting event to adopt a human rights policy,” said Professor Triggs.

“More recently, the global Sporting Chance Forum on Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights was held in Washington DC some weeks ago, co-hosted by the U.S. Department of State, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Institute for Human Rights and Business,” said Professor Triggs.

“This event is an opportunity to build on these initiatives and help create a human rights legacy for mega sporting events in the Commonwealth.,” she said.

Key participants in the event were:

• John Morrison, Chief Executive of the Institute for Human Rights and Business
• David Rutherford from the New Zealand Human Rights Commission
• Mr Stan Smith, Human Rights Ambassador to the Bahamas
• Mark Peters, Chief Executive of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation
• Sam Mostyn, Corporate Director and former AFL Commissioner
• Brendan Schwab from UNI Global Union

For more information see www.humanrights.gov.au/news/stories/sport-and-human-rights-roundtable