7 February 2022

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A coalition of human rights organisations, church groups and academics are calling on the federal government to strengthen Australia’s modern slavery laws after releasing a major new investigative report that found that many companies are failing to identify obvious risks of forced labour in their supply chains or take action to address them.

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Report co-author and HRLC senior lawyer Freya Dinshaw said that the coalition have called for a range of measures to strengthen the act. These include the addition of penalties for companies that fail to comply with the law, mandatory due diligence requirements, improved access to justice for workers and better guidance for companies sourcing from high-risk sectors.

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Additionally, Amy Sinclair, business and human rights specialist and report co-author, said that the reporting standards under the Australian Modern Slavery Act were “seriously lacking”.

“Three in four of the companies we assessed don’t comply with the law. Looking below the surface, the story is more worrying still.  Most statements reveal little evidence that companies understand the salient risks present in their operations and supply chains, or that they are taking the necessary steps to address them.

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