The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) set a new standard for modern slavery disclosures in Australia. The Act required entities with a consolidated annual revenue of $100 million or more to disclose their efforts in identifying and addressing modern slavery risks within their operations and supply chain. The objective of the Act was to provide a framework to assist with proactively and effectively addressing modern slavery.
The 2023 independent review of the Modern Slavery Act, commissioned by the Australian Government (Review), found that the Act had not resulted in meaningful change for people affected by modern slavery. The Review made 30 recommendations to strengthen modern slavery obligations for reporting entities, including the introduction of a positive requirement to conduct due diligence and the introduction of a federal Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
In December 2024, the Australian Government responded to the Review, agreeing, or agreeing in principle to 25 of the 30 recommendations. On 7 November 2024, Chris Evans was appointed as the inaugural Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner for a five year term. The Commissioner's role is to further strengthen Australia's efforts to address modern slavery by providing an independent pillar to Australia's response and a national leadership role.
Download our report to understand your obligations and next steps.
Preparing for next steps in modern slavery risk management
Learn how to prepare and respond to evolving modern slavery risk management expectations. Read our report for:
- an overview of changes to mandatory reporting requirements
- insight into reporting entities in high-risk sectors, including financial services, resources & energy, and property and construction, health services, retail and food, beverage and agriculture.
- a blueprint for enhancing modern slavery risk management and demonstrating continuous improvement
- a checklist of key questions to help you identify and assess your modern slavery risks.
Global modern slavery statistics
People
Products
$468 billion of imports by G20 countries are at risk of modern slavery.1
The top five at-risk products are:1
Electronics
Garments
Palm oil
Solar panels
Textiles
1.
Next steps: Continuous improvement and response to evolving regulations
Entities will be at different stages of maturity in identifying and managing their modern slavery risks. At the same time, expectations of modern slavery management are rapidly evolving. As a result, regardless of your stage of maturity, you should continue to reassess your ambition and practices and strive to build your program over time.
Four steps for responding to demonstrating continuous improvement
- Assess your current maturity
- Regularly identify and assess your modern slavery risks
- Develop and implement your roadmap of activities to manage these risks
- Assess your effectiveness, report and continuously improve
Our report outlines these steps in detail and provides illustrative case studies drawn from our extensive experience supporting clients at different stages of maturity to manage their modern slavery risks.
A checklist for addressing modern slavery
To further support your response, we have developed a detailed list of key questions to consider � for entities at each stage of maturity � when considering your evolving approach to due diligence.
How ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø's business and human rights specialists can help
ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø’s Human Rights & Social Impact team is dedicated to helping your entity understand and address human rights risks and impacts.
Our team specialises in modern slavery, working with Australian and global businesses across diverse sectors to assess, identify and manage their modern slavery risk.
We have 100 ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø in-country human rights specialists across 38 countries, offering global knowledge of peer and industry practices to provide an in-depth understanding of local contexts and their interaction with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights.
We also offer entities the ability to independently self-assess the maturity of their approach to managing modern slavery risks through our .
Download the full report
Learn how to prepare and respond to strengthened modern slavery due diligence reporting requirements.
Download report (PDF 1.9MB)Contact ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø’s Human Rights and Modern Slavery specialists
Regulation is driving change: leading practice three years ago is now the baseline. Effective modern slavery risk management, embedded across business, is a fundamental component of broader ESG strategy.
Dr Meg Brodie
Partner-in-Charge, ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø Banarra â€� Human Rights & Social Impact
ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø Australia
