Anti-Slavery Commissioner welcomes next steps on Modern Slavery Act reforms

The Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Chris Evans, has welcomed the commencement of public consultations by the Attorney-General's Department (AGD) to progress reforms to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).

Yesterday, the Department released a Consultation Paper outlining options to enhance the Act’s mandatory reporting framework for large entities, simplify and improve reporting, and target non-compliance. 

This consultation process is an opportunity for stakeholders to drive long awaited changes to strengthen the Act. These include updating reporting requirements to help improve the quality of reporting and fostering greater accountability for reporting entities through enforcement mechanisms for non-compliance with the Act. 

However, driving real change on modern slavery requires our laws to shift beyond just reporting to requiring action by business. The Commissioner welcomes the Government’s plan to also separately commence targeted consultations on the introduction of due diligence measures and on high-risk declarations.  Introducing a due diligence requirement would bring Australia more in line with international best practice and result in real impact for those currently working in conditions of modern slavery, such as forced labour or debt bondage. The Commissioner encourages the Government to act swiftly and to engage more broadly with stakeholders on these important measures. Improving reporting alone will not drive meaningful impact. 

"Australians want to know that the workers here and around the world who produce the goods and services we all consume, are living and working in freedom and dignity. The Modern Slavery Act has significantly increased awareness of modern slavery in business operations and supply chains; but reforms to elicit more impactful action are long overdue," said Commissioner Evans. “After extensive consultations in my first six months in this role, there is clearly a need for more ambitious reform. I look forward to engaging with both Government and key stakeholders on these much-needed reforms."

The Consultation Paper and information on how to make a submission is available on the AGD Consultation hub. Stakeholders are encouraged to submit to the Government’s consultation by Monday, 1 September.