Reporting entities must have a reasonable basis for any opinions expressed in their modern slavery statement, so it is important that reporting entities take the time to assess their risk. The reporting criteria in Australia are mandatory. Reporting obligations relate to the risk of modern slavery in the operations and supply chain of a reporting entity (and its owned and controlled entities), as well as the steps it has taken to respond to the risks identified. What does reporting pursuant to the Commonwealth Act entail? More details on the Commissioner’s role can be found here. The Commissioner will have broad oversight over Government policies addressing modern slavery, develop and publish codes of practice to provide guidance and maintain a public register that identifies any government agency failing to comply with the directions of the NSW Procurement Board, any state owned corporations not reporting under the NSW Act and any other information that the Commissioner considers appropriate. Dr James Cockayne was appointed the NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner for a five-year term commencing in 2022. The NSW Act also empowers the NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner, the NSW Procurement Board and Auditor-General to oversee efforts to remove products of modern slavery from public procurement. However, the NSW Act was subsequently harmonised with the Commonwealth Act, and ultimately came into effect in 2022, with a reporting obligation only for NSW government bodies, local councils and state owned corporations and an obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure that goods and services procured are not the product of modern slavery. By way of background, the NSW Act in its original form, introduced a reporting obligation on both government bodies and corporations operating in Australia with a consolidated revenue of $50 million. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) ( NSW Act) passed the NSW parliament in June 2018 but it did not come into effect until 1 January 2022. The revenue threshold is one aspect of the Commonwealth Act which is under review. Who needs to report?Įntities need to report under the Commonwealth Act if they are an Australian entity or carry on business in Australia with a minimum annual consolidated revenue of $100 million. While the recommendations made in the review are yet to become legally binding, it is a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ the Commonwealth Act will be amended. A summary of the proposed changes can be found here. A Commonwealth Anti-slavery Commissioner has also been recommended. The review provides 30 recommendations to be considered by government: these include introducing due diligence obligations, lowering the consolidated revenue threshold from $100 million to $50 million, and the introduction of civil penalties for non-compliance. The three-year statutory review of the Commonwealth Act led by Professor John McMillan AO was tabled in Parliament on. On 1 January 2019, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) ( Commonwealth Act) commenced, heralding a new statutory modern slavery reporting requirement for larger companies operating in Australia. Modern slavery therefore encompasses slavery, servitude, the worst forms of child labour, forced labour, human trafficking, debt bondage, slavery like practices, forced marriage and deceptive recruiting for labour or services. The Australian regime defines modern slavery to incorporate conduct that would constitute an offence under existing human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like offence provisions set out in Divisions 270 and 271 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. Note: At its broadest, the term 'modern slavery' refers to any situations of exploitation where a person cannot refuse or leave work because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception.
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