Human rights
DWF is committed to upholding the principles of human rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization's core labour standards. As a participant in the United Nations Global Compact, we also support the wider UN development agenda, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Our Executive Board has oversight of our approach to human rights, modern slavery and our management of human rights risks.
We recognise our responsibility to protect the human rights of our colleagues, clients, communities and throughout our value chain. Through oversight and governance of human rights and ethical risks, we will progress outcomes to support colleague wellbeing, safety and improve business resilience to actual and potential impacts, as well as undertake appropriate due diligence and engagement with our supply chain. This is led by a cross-functional group who oversee and implement our Human Rights Due Diligence Action Plan.
Suppliers and their value chain partners can obtain support through our Speak Up portal, and are required to adhere to our Supplier Code of Conduct . They can also sign up to our quarterly ESG Supplier Newsletter to receive updates and hear about opportunities to engage in webinars, as well as access support and resources.
If you are a supplier and are interested in collaborating with us, please get in touch >
Pro bono
We are in a unique position to improve access to justice through the provision of pro bono activity focused on issues that connect with our Responsible Business strategy and important environmental, social and governance issues. By doing so, we can achieve positive impact globally in communities through targeted pro bono activity. This will include a global partnership initiative focused on climate justice and human rights.
Over the year, colleagues globally contributed 7,159 pro bono hours, of which 4,488 was from pro bono activity from our dedicated practice in Australia. Over the past year, the Australia pro bono practice has evolved from a developing program to an embedded part of our culture, with participation from every Australian office and growing engagement across practice groups and seniority levels. Capability-building initiatives, including national training programs and strategic secondments with frontline community legal services, have strengthened our ability to respond to emerging areas of unmet legal need.
These efforts have encouraged more colleagues across the business to contribute their skills in support of people and communities who might otherwise struggle to access legal assistance.
Climate change pro bono highlights
Oxford Climate Policy Monitor
A powerful partnership we are continuing to support through pro bono work is the Oxford Climate Policy Hub, in collaboration with Legal Charter 1.5. The innovative project harnesses the expertise of its international partners in law firms across the world to provide pro bono expertise to assess how policies and regulations align with climate goals.
The Oxford Climate Policy Monitor assesses how policies and regulations align with climate goals. In 2025, it assessed 37 jurisdictions in six domains: carbon credits, climate-related disclosure, green prudential rules, methane abatement, public procurement and transition planning.
The Monitor’s insights are highly influential on a global scale with its findings used by many key decision makers, including the UN Taskforce on Net Zero Policy, helping them to shape discussions on corporate and financial net zero policy reform and the global stock take on climate regulation.
Over the year, we contributed our pro bono expertise for the Poland and France jurisdictions and who covered the six domains. In addition to continuing to provide our legal expertise to the research in the coming year, we are also excited to contribute to new working groups on thought leadership, nature, and insurance — areas where legal, regulatory, and commercial perspectives must come together to shape the next frontier of climate action.
Legal Response International and COP29
Legal Response International (LRI) is a charity providing free legal support to developing countries as well as civil society observers. It works through a network of lawyers from law firms, barrister chambers and universities in different jurisdictions who give hands-on assistance during meetings, draft legal opinions or build the capacity of lawyers and negotiators from developing countries. During the two-week COP negotiations, LRI provide support via an expert network of lawyers with specific experience in climate law, and a daily ‘situation room’ serving as a forum for live queries.
During COP29 and in partnership with LRI, three of our lawyers provided their expertise through pro bono support by:
- Reviewing and adding to research for an explainer about the hierarchy of the different negotiating bodies at COP and the different roles of key players. This was then provided to delegations on the ground to help them navigate the discussions and maximise their input.
- Contributing to a range of research tasks all directed at providing resources on the ground to help participants better understand the negotiation process. This included contributing to a glossary of terms to explain some of the technical terms used in the Paris Agreement.
Being part of a discussion challenging whether the classification of different participants was appropriate and whether a new category of participant should be added. Classification of different participants is important to ensure that discussions are not hindered by misinformation or bias.
Our Australia pro bono practice
Appointed in 2024, Rebecca McMahon is DWF’s first dedicated Pro Bono and Community Special Counsel. She leads our programme in Australia, building partnerships with community and commercial organisations and providing pro bono legal assistance to organisations and individuals.
Informed by key areas of unmet legal need in our communities, the Australian pro bono program’s work aligns with DWF's Responsible Business Strategy and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), supporting people with disability, refugees and asylum seekers, children and young people. Through referrals, advice clinics, secondments, court and tribunal representation, the development of legal information resources and contributing to law reform initiatives, we seek to address both individual disadvantage and systemic barriers to justice.
Over the last year, over 4,400 hours were provided through our Australian pro bono practice.
Rebecca comments: “One of the highlights of my role is seeing colleagues from across the business come together in support of a shared purpose. As DWF in Australia has grown, so too has the commitment of our people to contribute their time and expertise to the communities in which we live and work. Colleagues from across our offices and practice groups have shared with me how rewarding it is to be able to support people and communities facing disadvantage through our volunteer programs. What stands out to me is how naturally supporting our communities has become part of the way we work, with our people applying the same expertise and commitment they bring to client work to supporting those most in need. The success of the Australian Pro Bono and Community programme is the result of the collective effort of our people, community partners and leadership team working together to create meaningful opportunities for contribution and lasting positive impact.”
Pro bono highlights from Australia
Building pro bono and community capacity through partnership with Basic Rights Queensland
Basic Rights Queensland (BRQ) is one of our key strategic community partners. Through a combination of lawyer secondments, legal assistance and support for community events, the partnership helps strengthen BRQ's ability to deliver frontline services and advocate for improved outcomes for individuals.
During 2025/2026, four DWF lawyers participated in secondments with BRQ's Working Women Queensland service, supporting women experiencing workplace-related legal issues. DWF lawyers from across Australia also contributed to BRQ’s law reform work and the development of legal resources designed to improve access to information for people seeking to understand their workplace rights.
Through this partnership, DWF works alongside BRQ to increase the capacity of the legal assistance sector to support individuals to navigate complex systems.
“We're so grateful for DWF's generous, skilful and valued ongoing pro bono partnership, which centres on our shared values of dignity, fairness and inclusion and which bridges the justice gap for vulnerable community members. We also know that pro bono partnerships are most effective when they are built on mutual respect and we focus on ensuring that all pro bono relationships are client-centred, tailored and purposeful.” James Farrell, CEO of Basic Rights Queensland
Supporting people with disability to access the help they need
Through our collaborations with LawRight, Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion (QAI) and Advocacy Law Alliance (ALA), DWF provides pro bono legal assistance to people with disabilities navigating the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). These partnerships helps improve outcomes for NDIS participants across New South Wales and Queensland, including in regional communities, by matching assistance to each individual's circumstances and support needs.
Support ranges from task-based assistance through volunteer programs with QAI and ALA, including helping participants prepare statements of lived experience and gather evidence for Administrative Review Tribunal proceedings, through to full legal representation in complex external review proceedings.
During 2025/2026, our lawyers contributed more than 650 pro bono hours supporting NDIS participants. The partnerships leverage QAI and ALA’s specialist disability advocacy expertise, LawRight's referral and triage capability and DWF's national legal resources to ensure individuals who may otherwise struggle to navigate a complex review system can access the advocacy and legal assistance they need.
