• Have you identified your organisation’s supply chain?
• Are you mapping the supply chain processes?
• Do you understand your supply chain’s risk profile?

When the Australian Government joined with other global leaders to respond to the global issue of modern slavery and introduced the Modern Slavery Act 2018, it was an important first step toward the protection of the most marginalised people subjected to slavery practices.

The Act introduced reporting obligations for large businesses and other entities with an annual consolidated revenue of at least AUD$100 million in Australian markets on their actions to assess and address modern slavery risks in their global operations and supply chains.

Modern slavery is hidden in every country of our globalised world, and it involves forced labour, forced marriage, human trafficking and other servitude. The Australian media has reported on wage theft and the exploitation of migrants and visa holders where slave-like conditions existed. While the criminal networks profiteer, violations of freedoms and human rights hold the cost.

The Global Slavery Index 2018 (GSI) report describes modern slavery as a hidden everyday problem with 40 million people in modern slavery worldwide. The numbers unravelled for women and girls at 71%, and 29% percent for men. And despite legislation and strong actions being taken in most countries, modern slavery still exists on a shameful scale.

A comprehensive investigation by the Human Rights Law Centre, aimed at improving responses to modern slavery and access to remedies for affected workers, has analysed 102 Australian company statements published on the government’s modern slavery register to evaluate how many companies are starting to implement effective measures to address modern slavery.

Paper Promises: Evaluating the early impact of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act, reports on the disclosure statements of companies sourced from four sectors with known risks of modern slavery: healthcare, garments, horticulture, and seafood.

The key findings comprise:

• 77% of companies are failing to address all mandatory reporting criteria in their statements
• 52% of companies are failing to identify obvious modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains
• Only 27% of companies demonstrate some form of effective action to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains.

Candidly the report reviews “So far, however, it seems that many company statements remain mere ‘paper promises’ with little evidence of effective action in the areas most likely to improve conditions for workers”. However, the analysis did reveal that small clusters of leading companies are taking a robust approach to their obligations.

Since the introduction of the Act in 2019, the government has appointed a Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group and is working towards continuous improvement. The Hon Jason Wood has commented that “There is no excuse for inaction on this issue and every business should be taking steps to ensure they understand modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains, and implementing measures to address them”. The legislation has commenced the conversation in boardrooms and business actions to combat modern slavery.

Business needs to continue to work with the government and other stakeholders such as unions to address the issues contributing to labour exploitation in Australia and to ensure human rights is the first item requiring focus and evidence in procurement exercises.

There is no place for modern slavery in the Australian community or the global supply chains of Australian goods and services.

What can you do?

• Foster open and transparent supplier relationships that encourage modern slavery reporting and meaningful change.
• Conduct due diligence on modern slavery risk as part of the procurement and sourcing process.
• Clearly communicate your position on modern slavery through measured contractual obligations.
• Improve supplier awareness of modern slavery risks through awareness-raising and training.
• Map the corporate supply chain including second-tier suppliers to detect hidden relationships

Anchoram can provide advisory and assurance services to map your supply chain processes as well as undertake audits and risk assessments of your supply chain.  

Additional resources can be found at:

• Modern slavery (homeaffairs.gov.au)
• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct
• Global Slavery Index