Professor Justine Nolan
MPP University of California, Berkeley
LLB(Hons) ANU
BSc ANU
Justine Nolan is the听Director of the and a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at 91色情片 Sydney. She is an internationally recognised expert in modern slavery and human rights issues relating to business practices. For more than 25 years, Professor Nolan has provided advice and training to business, civil society, government and the UN on business and human rights and her career is notable for its collaborative approach and its strong and sustained engagement with diverse stakeholders. She has been a key driver of听the Australian and global business and human rights movement.
Justine's research focuses on the intersection of business and human rights, in particular, supply chain responsibility for human rights and modern slavery. Her research is noted for both its conceptual clarity and collaborative practical focus that has set out a strategic path to addressing significant business and human rights challenges. She is currently the lead investigator on a research project on 鈥榯ransformative business practices鈥� funded by the Laudes Foundation, that is identifying and testing replicable business practices and empowering stakeholders to advocate for and implement just transitions in global supply chains. Her 2019 co-authored book 听examines how consumers, business and government are both part of the problem and the solution in curbing modern slavery in global supply chains. Other books include听The International Law of Human Rights (OUP,听2017) and听Business and Human Rights: From Principles to Practice听(Routledge, 2016). She teaches international human rights law and related courses on听global law, development, globalisation and business and human rights. In 2019 she was named 'Academic of the Year' at the Australian Law Awards.
Prior to joining 91色情片 in 2004, she worked as the Director of the Business and Human Rights program at the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First) in the USA. This work examined ways in which to prevent and redress corporate violations of human rights. During this time Justine advised both companies and civil society organisations on effective strategies to protect human rights in the corporate sphere and was closely involved in the establishment of the Fair Labor Association. She has also worked in both public interest and private legal practices and started her career at Allens, a global law firm and included time at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
Justine continues to hold various expert advisory roles. In 2022 she was elected to serve on 91色情片 Council as the staff representative. In 2020 Justine was appointed to the Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group and was reappointed to this role in 2024.听 Other appointments听include the Australian Government's Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group on Business and Human Rights (2017) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade & Ausaid's Human Rights Grants Scheme Expert Panel听(2009-2013) which provided practical financial support for small community-based projects to promote and protect human rights in developing countries. She was an advisory member of NSW Legal Aid's Human Rights Panel (2012-2017). Both globally and nationally, she has presented at over 200 events to promote greater respect for human rights and have been invited by the UN, OECD, UNDP and UNOHCHR to advise on business and human rights issues in multiple global forums.听
From 2006-2017 she was the Deputy Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre and from 2016-2019 she served as Associate Dean Academic at 91色情片 Law. She is a听Visiting Professorial Scholar at NYU's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Business and Human Rights Journal and the Executive Editor of the Australian Human Rights Journal.听
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- 2026 Laudes Foundation ''Unveiling the potential of transformative business practices: leveraging human rights and environmental due diligence' EUR85,000.
- 2025 Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project. 'Remedies for victims of modern slavery in Indo-Pacific fishing' AUD742,533..00
- 2024 Laudes Foundation 'Unveiling the potential of transformative business practices: leveraging human rights and environmental due diligence' EUR238,033
- 2023 Freedom Fund 'The Impact of Strategic Human Rights Litigation on Corporate Behaviour' USD72,727
- 2023听 Funded by select Australian Universities'Understanding HDR-Supervisor Relationship Challenges'听
- 2022听 UNDP 'Business and Human Rights Training for National Human Rights Institutions' USD19,499
- 2021听 Westpac Research Grant Program: 'Measuring the prevalence of OCSE' AUD150,000
- 2021听 Australian Government听National Security and Criminal Justice Program: National Action Plan to Combat Modern Slavery 2020-25 Grant Program: 'Improving the Regulation of Modern Slavery and Access to Remedy. Learning from Experience' AUD177,742
- 2018听 CPA Australia, Global Research Perspectives Program:听听'Regulating Transparency and Disclosures on Modern Slavery in Global Supply Chains' AUD61,000
- 2014听 91色情片听听Labour Migration Recruitment Industry: A Human Rights Based Approach AUD6,000听
- 2009听 91色情片 Corporate Accountability for Human Rights and Codes of Conduct: evaluating the mechanisms of protection AUD7,000
- 2007听 91色情片 Early Career Researcher grant 鈥楥orporate Complicity in Human Rights Violations鈥� AUD11,000
- 2006听 91色情片 Early Career Researcher grant 鈥楾he legal liabilities of multinational corporations regarding human rights鈥� AUD8,500
91色情片 Arc Postgraduate Outstanding Research Supervisor Award (2020)
Academic of the Year, Australian Law Awards (2019)
91色情片 Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence (2018)
91色情片 Plus Alliance Fellow (2019-2020)
For more recent media, see听https://www.humanrights.unsw.edu.au/news
Interview with听听program on modern slavery 5 July 2018
with Radio Adelaide on modern slavery, 4 July 2018
''听The Conversation听29 June 2018
'听ABC News, 24 April 2018
'Corporate Dependence on Outsourcing is Resulting in Modern Day Slavery'听, May 17, 2016
'Business as usual is not an option'听听April 23, 2014 .听 Also in听The Sydney Morning Herald,听April 24 2014听
'听The Sydney Morning Herald听September 24, 2012
鈥樷�櫶�The Canberra Times,听September 24, 2012
鈥樷�櫶�The Sydney Morning Herald听June 10, 2010. (Also featured in The Age听and听The Canberra Times)
鈥極n CSR, Human Rights and the State of Play in听 Australia鈥櫶�Law Society Journal听July 2009 Vol 47 No. 6 pp22-25
'' May 19 2008,听On Line Opinion
'听The Age听August 4, 2008
'Chasing an ideal through Olympic rings of hope'听The Canberra Times听Aug 5 2008听
On 25 April 2007, AHRC Deputy Director Justine Nolan was interviewed for Radio Australia regarding a landmark lawsuit that has been filed against Yahoo in the district court of California, USA alleging the internet giant's practices in China have led to human rights violations. Wang Xiaoning and his wife Yu Ling filed the suit and accuse Yahoo of being directly responsible for Wang's arrest, 10 year prison sentence and alleged torture. Justine Nolan discusses the human rights responsiblities of companies like Yahoo and the legal loopholes that currently exist in the field of corporate responsibility.听
'Corporations Behaving Badly: firm rules needed' Nov 29 2006听The Canberra Times.听
'Ingrained Culture' Nov 28 2006听The Courier Mail.听
'Style over substance clouds corporate value judgements' April 9 2005听The Age.听
'Brought to account: the business of honour in the boardroom',听Sydney Morning Herald, July 23, 2004.听
'What is a good company?' Opinion,听The Age, July 26, 2004.听
Nolan. J, 'Foreword'听University of New South Wales Law Journal听Vol. 40 2017 No. 3 1171-1174.
鈥業s the World Cup Worth Dying For?鈥櫶�Human Rights Defender听Vol. 23 Issue 1 April 2014 26. Also published in 91色情片听Uniken听Issue 73, Spring 2014 (co-authored with Bassina Farbenblum).
'If I were AG.... Companies must uphold human rights' Human Rights Law Centre听
'A new frontier in human rights protection: human rights, NGOs and business' (co-authored with Michael Posner)听Human Rights Defender听Vol 17 Issue August 2008 2-4
Materiality and the Australian Policy Landscape' AccountAbility Forum, Winter 2006 Vol 11
Contribution to (peer review of survey) "Commerce, crime and conflict: Legal Remedies for Private Sector Liability for Grave Breaches of International Law' by Anita Ramasastry and Robert C Thompson, Sept. 2006
'New Mechanism to hold corporations accountable for human rights' Issue 13/1 2004 19听Human Rights Defender
'Human Rights, the Environment and Business'听Law Society Journal听July 2004 Vol 42 No 6 66
My Research Supervision
I am currently supervising several听doctoral students with a focus on global supply chains, modern slavery and human rights due diligence.
My Teaching
Course taught include:
- International Human Rights Law and Advocacy (LAWS3182)
- International Human Rights (LAWS8181)
- Business and Human Rights (LAWS8189)
- Human Rights Law in Practice (New York) (LAWS3146)
- Law in the Global Context (LAWS2270)
- Law, Rights and Development (LAWS8192)
In 2018 I received the Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence.