The Australian Parliament has published the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (the Act) on 29 November 2018 and had come into force on 1 January 2019. The Act established a national Modern Slavery Reporting Requirement for certain large businesses and other entities carrying on business in Australia with a minimum annual consolidated revenue of $100 million, to report publicly on the actions they have taken to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains.
Who Needs to Report and What Needs to Be Reported?
Around 3,000 entities in Australia (minimum annual consolidated revenue of $100 million) must submit a ‘modern slavery statement’ within 6 months of the end of their financial year to the Minister for Home Affairs. The statement must include:
- the identity of the reporting entity;
- the structure, operations and supply chains of the reporting entity;
- the risks of modern slavery practices in the operations and supply chains of the reporting entity, and any entities that the reporting entity owns or controls;
- the actions taken by the reporting entity and any entity that the reporting entity owns or controls, to asses and address those risks;
- how the reporting entity assesses the effectiveness of such actions;
- the process of consultation with any entities the reporting entity owns or controls or is issuing a joint modern slavery statement with; and
- any other information that the reporting entity, or the entity giving the statement, considers relevant.
The Harsh Reality
Many Australian businesses are unaware and often oblivious of the risk that they have slavery in their business or supply chains. Many believe correctly that the incidence of modern slavery within Australia is relatively low, but they forgot that they are potentially interacting and supporting modern slavery down their supply chain.
As at September 2017, the Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery Index estimates:
- in excess of 40 million people globally are subject to some form of modern slavery and collectively approximately US$150 billion per year is generated in the global private economy from forced labour alone;
- 30,435,300 people in Asia-Pacific Region are 'enslaved' (66.4 per cent of all people enslaved); and
- 4,300 people in Australia are enslaved.
JOIN US: Bureau Veritas is partnering with Inform365 and a panel of experts for a 60-minute webinar where you'll have answers to
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Does your organisation need to report against the Modern Slavery Act?
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What are your obligations?
- What are leading organisations doing?
The webinar will be hosted by Andrew Banks shareholder of Informed 365 and one of Australia's most respected business leaders and entrepreneurs.
Speakers
- Jennifer Burn - Interim Commissioner Modern Slavery NSW
- Kim Randle - Executive Director, Fair Supply
- Sarnia Hobson - Wesfarmers, QA & Compliance Manager
- Kat Sayers - Environmental Practice Lead, Bureau Veritas
- Nicholas Bernhardt - CEO, Informed 365
- Plus 30 minutes of Q&A
Event Dates
11am on 12th July, 2019
11am on 26th July, 2019