7 February 2022

The effectiveness of Australian laws designed to combat forced labour in overseas supply chains has been called into question, with a new report finding large companies are failing to take necessary action to combat exploitation of workers.

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A major review by a coalition of human rights groups, leading universities and charity organisations considered 102 companies operating in high-risk areas, including garment manufacturing in China, production of medical protective equipment in Malaysia, horticulture products sourced in Australia and seafood supply from Thailand.

It found 77 per cent of companies had failed to comply with basic reporting standards mandated by the law, while more than half had failed to identify obvious modern slavery risks in their operations or supply chains.

Amid international focus on Uighur forced labour in China connected to supply chains for major western brands, the review said only one in four garment companies made any mention of the risk in their manufacturing lines.

Just 27 per cent of companies appeared to be reducing modern slavery risks, the report released on Monday found.

Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles topped the scorecard for compliance, along with brands including Kathmandu, David Jones, Ansell, Nestlé, Wesfarmers, The Iconic and Country Road.

Less than 20 per cent of companies included in the report disclose measures to ensure responsible purchasing practices in their business, such as adequate pricing rules, prompt payment and managing workload changes.

Across all four sectors considered, the report found “small clusters of leading companies that appear at least from their reports to be taking a more detailed and rigorous approach to both their reporting obligations and actions to address modern slavery risks”.

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The Human Rights Law Centre, the University of Melbourne and the Uniting Church were among the groups contributing to the two-year review.