Read the final statement issued by the Australian NCP – October 2018

Read the follow up statement issued by the Australian NCP – February 2020

In October 2014, Equitable Cambodia (EC) and Inclusive Development International (IDI), submitted a specific instance to the Australian NCP on behalf of 681 Cambodian families alleging that ANZ Bank breached the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in relation to the company’s involvement with Phnom Penh Sugar (PPS), the developer of a sugar plantation and refinery project in Cambodia. The project is alleged to have forcibly displaced the families and dispossessed them of their land and productive resources.

The NCP accepted the specific instance and engaged an external mediator to conduct confidential mediation between the parties in late 2015. The good offices stage was concluded as both parties agreed that they would not be able to reach a satisfactory outcome.

In June 2018 the NCP concluded the case by providing both parties with a copy of the final statement. The final statement states that ‘it is difficult to reconcile ANZ’s decision to take on PPS as a client with its own internal policies and procedures—which appear to accord with the OECD Guidelines—as the potential risks associated with this decision would likely have been readily apparent.’

The Final Statement also makes the following recommendations:

• That ANZ instigates methods to promote internal compliance with its stated corporate standards with respect to human rights and take steps to visibly demonstrate the proper application of the standards to ensure they give effect to the OECD Guidelines;

• That ANZ further strengthens the application of its due diligence arrangements (including reviewing its screening and monitoring systems) to ensure they are adequate to manage the risks associated with its lending activities – especially in relation to its business with clients in some developing countries where legal and governance frameworks are less developed than in Australia; and

• That ANZ establishes a grievance resolution mechanism (including publication of outcomes) to support the effective operation of its corporate standards in relation to human rights – and as a way of demonstrating that its actions are consistent with community expectations around the accountability of multinational enterprises operating in this field.

In October 2018 the final statement was published on the NCP’s website.

A follow up on this case was concluded in February 2020. During the process, the parties engaged constructively and reached an agreed outcome. The follow up statement was published on the NCP’s website.