The Human Rights Law Centre has welcomed the release of an Issues Paper this week as part of the three-year review of the Modern Slavery Act. 

The Modern Slavery Act came into effect in January 2019. The review will consider the Act’s effectiveness during this time, including compliance with reporting requirements, as well as any further measures to improve its operation. The inquiry is being led by Professor John McMillan, AO, and is due to report in March 2023. 

The Issues Paper details the scope of the review. It also includes compliance data of corporate reporting under the Act, revealing that of statements published on the government register in the past year, 28 percent were assessed as non-compliant, down from 41 percent in the year prior.  

However, the Human Rights Law Centre warns that while compliance levels have improved, the Act needs to set the bar higher in order to stamp out modern slavery in supply chains. 

Human Rights Law Centre Acting Legal Director, Freya Dinshaw said:  

“No company should profit from modern slavery. This review is a crucial opportunity to strengthen our laws and make Australia a global leader when it comes to combatting modern slavery. It can never be acceptable for the clothes we wear, the goods we buy or the food we eat to be made at the expense of other people’s freedom. 

“Compliance with the Modern Slavery Act is meant to be mandatory, and yet we are seeing a concerning number of companies failing to meet basic minimum reporting standards. At the very least, there needs to be hard consequences for companies that fail to comply with the laws, or that submit false or misleading statements. 

“Beyond reporting, however, the Act needs to be adapted into a law that actually compels companies to take action to prevent modern slavery, and holds them accountable if they fail to do so.  As long as the law can be met by a ‘tick-box’ approach to addressing modern slavery, there will be some companies that turn a blind eye to worker exploitation even though they technically comply with the Act.” 

The Human Rights Law Centre has also welcomed the Albanese government’s commitment to strengthening Australia’s modern slavery laws, and recommends prioritising the following reforms: 

• Establishing due diligence requirements to compel companies to identify, prevent and mitigate modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains; 

• Ensuring appropriate oversight and enforcement of the Act, including access to justice for exploited workers and penalties for non-compliance; 

• Banning all imports made with forced labour. 

In February, the Human Rights Law Centre and a coalition of human rights organisations, church groups and academics released a report, Paper Promises?, evaluating the early impact of the Act, finding that an alarming number of companies were failing to identify obvious risks of forced labour in their supply chains or take action to address them. 

The Human Rights Law Centre will make a submission to the inquiry. 

Media contact:

Michelle Bennett, Engagement Director, michelle.bennett@hrlc.org.au, 0419 100 519