13th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

Vanessa is a recognised global corporate sustainability expert. Originally an anti-trust lawyer at King & Wood Mallesons, she was a Legal Advisor to the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, Harvard Professor John Ruggie. This included being part of the core team drafting the internationally recognised UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Vanessa has also advised other key global business and human rights initiatives including the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), the UN Global Compact, and the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights and worked with businesses from multiple sectors. This included managing Rio Tinto’s human rights program for 10 years. Vanessa holds various expert advisory roles including as Chair of Human Rights and the Modern Slavery Community of Practice at the UN Global Compact Network Australia. She has been appointed to several Australian Government expert advisory groups including the Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group (representing the Institute for Human Rights and Business), the National Roundtable on Human Trafficking and Slavery (representing the Law Council of Australia) and the Governance and Advisory Board to the Australian National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, based in Commonwealth Treasury. She was a member of the Global Reporting Initiative’s Technical Committee on Human Rights Disclosure and is an officer of the International Bar Association’s Business and Human Rights Committee and a member of the Developments in the Field panel for Cambridge University’s Business and Human Rights Journal. Vanessa is also an IHRB Research Fellow.In 2016, Vanessa was recognized as one of Australia’s 100 Women of Influence and was shortlisted to join the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. In 2018, she was a finalist in the Agenda Setter of the Year category in the Australian Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards and in 2023 she was the inaugural recipient of Anti-Slavery Australia’s Human Rights and Modern Slavery Medal. In 2022, Vanessa joined Chief Executive Women Australia, a network of over 900 members holding leading roles in Australia’s largest private and public organizations working to support gender equity and the current and next generation of Australian female leaders. Vanessa has a Master of Laws from Harvard University, Bachelor of Laws (first class honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Japanese) from Monash University in Australia.