The Australian Government mandate to address the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in the supply of goods and services to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (“the Act”) has revealed a spectrum of corporate responses. In 2021-22, Unchained Solutions, in partnership with Macquarie University, conducted research to understand the extent to which Australian entities were effectively reporting on actions taken to assess, address, and monitor the risk of modern slavery to people employed in their supply chains and operations. Stage one comprised deskwork analysis of 150 modern slavery statements registered with the Australian Border Force, utilizing the Unchained comprehensive compliance checklist based on the Government Guidelines for Reporting Entities (Home Affairs, 2019), and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (United Nations, 2011). Stage two comprised interviewing fifteen corporate entity representatives who were instrumental in steering their organisation’s response to Act. The research also drew upon insights from current academic papers and industry studies. Findings focus on four main areas: 1) key external stakeholder engagement; 2) the extent of investigation beyond direct suppliers; 3) the process for measuring effectiveness; and 4) the consultation process. Results indicate that most entities have limited their compliance activities to desk work processes, lack an effective strategy to collaborate and incentivize direct suppliers to conduct due diligence, lack a clear understanding of risk with indirect suppliers, and have not articulated a framework for measuring effectiveness. This presentation concludes with recommendations for further research and clear indicators for continuous improvement.
Dr. Stephen Morse is a contemporary expert in modern slavery intervention and CEO of Unchained Solutions Pty Limited based Australia. Stephen consults with business leaders on addressing the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in their supply chains and operations to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).