The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (MSA) was widely hailed as a critical first step by Australia towards tackling the global problem of modern slavery, with the government proclaiming that it would transform the way businesses respond to modern slavery by prompting a business-led ‘race to the top’.

This report analyses 102 company statements published in the first reporting cycle of the MSA, to evaluate how many companies are starting to implement effective measures to address modern slavery and how many are lagging. Rather than focusing on the largest ASX-listed companies, we examined statements published by companies sourcing from four sectors with known risks of modern slavery:

– garments (sourced in China)
– healthcare – rubber gloves (PPE) (sourced in Malaysia) – horticulture (sourced in Australia)
– seafood (sourced from Thailand)

We first examined whether the statements complied with the mandatory reporting criteria under the MSA and provided meaningful information against all these criteria. We then compared the information about modern slavery risks in each statement with publicly available information about the risks and working conditions in these sectors in order to understand whether companies are appropriately identifying the most salient risks present in their operations and supply chains. Finally, we analysed whether companies appear from their statements to be taking effective and meaningful actions to address these risks.

Paper Promises? Evaluating the Early Impact of Australia's Modern Slavery Act, Human Rights Law Centre, February 2022 DOWNLOAD

post

page

attachment

revision

nav_menu_item

custom_css

customize_changeset

oembed_cache

user_request

wp_block

wp_template

wp_template_part

wp_global_styles

wp_navigation

wp_font_family

wp_font_face

acf-taxonomy

acf-post-type

acf-field-group

acf-field

ai1ec_event

exactmetrics_note

GRETA Third Evaluation Report– Austria
GuidancePublications

In its third report on Austria, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) analyses trafficking victims’ access to justice and effective remedies and examines progress in the implementation of ...Read More

TAGS: Europe
Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark Key Findings from the Wind & Solar Sectors
COVID-19 resourcesGuidance

Climate change is among the most important and complex issues our planet and its people have faced in centuries, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only reinforced the urgency and necessity of building global economic systems that are both equi...Read More

TAGS: Global
The Passage Anti-Slavery Project 2018/2020
COVID-19 resourcesGuidance

This report depicts The Passage Anti-Slavery Project’s first two years, from June 2018 to June 2020. The first section of the report describes the project’s objectives, the steering group which guided the project and its main key achievement...Read More

TAGS: Europe
Risks and Considerations for Businesses and Individuals with Exposure to Entities Engaged in Forced Labor and other Human Rights Abuses linked to Xinjiang, China
GuidancePublications

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government continues to carry out genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang), China The PR...Read More

TAGS: Asia