17 November 2022

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Two out of three companies are still failing to comply with legally-required reporting requirements, while more than half have failed to follow through on commitments to improve their anti-slavery efforts, a coalition of rights groups and academics said in a report [...].

The group, which includes the Australian Human Rights Institute and the UK-based Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, said the Australian government should overhaul its anti-slavery legislation to ensure companies are not using forced labour in their supply chains.

It recommended that the law be strengthened to require firms to undertake due diligence on their supply chains, introduce penalties for non-compliance, and establish an independent anti-slavery commissioner.

The report, Broken Promises: Two years of corporate reporting under Australia’s Modern Slavery Act, is based on corporate statements submitted to the government by 92 companies that source from industries considered to be at risk of modern slavery. The at-risk industries are garments in China, rubber gloves in Malaysia, seafood in Thailand, and fresh produce in Australia.

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