"I think a common experience for young people as they become more and more aware of how the world works is a questioning of norms and grey-area corporate acts: why have certain actions and inactions been allowed without repercussion? What about the people that affected? This questioning is often met with condescending affirmation of the status quo, implying the questioning is naïve in the first place. It is easy to see how this breeds a paradigm of not asking questions, adapting to a counter-productive workplace culture, glossing over issues and sometimes an attitude of cynicism. In attempting to fight this seemingly insistent bureaucracy and passivity, as a young person, it can be hard to know where to begin.
It was with these questions in my mind that on 25 August I had the pleasure of attending the 2020 Australian Dialogue on Business and Human Rights held by the UN Global Compact virtual conference. The recurring themes throughout the conference of being brave, challenging unconscious bias, and asking uncomfortable questions reiterated that young people should not be staying silent when these issues come up” .
