Anti-Slavery Commissioner Calls for Urgent Action on Forced Labour in Australian Supply Chains

The Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Chris Evans, notes today's announcement of legal proceedings taken by the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association, which brings into sharp focus the risk of forced labour in Australian supply chains.

The systematic use of forced labour in Xinjiang, primarily through the transfer of rural populations to work in farms and factories, is well known and well documented. The Commissioner condemns the human rights violations against the Uyghurs and other ethnic and Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and across China.

Forced labour is a global issue, and Australian supply chains are not immune. Many global supply chains are complex and opaque, making it difficult to trace the origins of raw materials and validate supplier claims. "Australian businesses must do more to understand their supply chains and take action to address known risks," said Chris Evans, Anti-Slavery Commissioner. "The Australian Government must also do more to support them."

Other countries have introduced measures such as high-risk product lists and import bans to address the risk of forced labour in supply chains, yet Australia currently lacks these mechanisms. The government has committed to making reforms, first proposed in 2023, to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act, and the Commissioner is keen to see this commitment translate into concrete change. 

"We need better public access to information and data about which products are high risk, what products are entering Australia, and who is importing them," Commissioner Evans said. "Australian consumers rightly expect that the products they buy are not linked to forced labour. Ensuring our supply chains are free from modern slavery is a shared responsibility."