The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (“the MSA”) introduced a requirement for major entities operating in Australia to annually submit a Modern Slavery Statement.
At its most basic level, the Statement must identify key risks of modern slavery within the reporting entity’s supply chains and operations, and must also describe the actions taken to deal with those risks.
The MSA has broadly defined ‘modern slavery’ as including [1]:
The purposes of the MSA are to improve transparency of global supply chains and increase the involvement of major businesses to address the risk of modern slavery.
The MSA seeks to achieve these purposes by mandating the online publication of Statements
on the Modern Slavery Register of the Australian Border Force. [2] Published Statements are then
subject to scrutiny by the Minister for Home Affairs and the general public.
In mid-2018, NSW Parliament also passed its own version of the Modern Slavery Act, which created
an additional modern slavery reporting requirement for NSW entities above $50 million turnover.
However, in October 2021, the Modern Slavery Amendment Bill 2021 (NSW) [3] proposed to
repeal this requirement. If passed, businesses in NSW will be required to report only under the
Commonwealth Act if they surpass $100 million in consolidated revenue.
Following the first round of Statements published for the 2019 – 2020 reporting period, a study by
the Monash Centre for Financial Studies (“the Report”) assessed and ranked the quality of Modern Slavery Statements submitted by ASX100 companies. [4] The Report’s scoring framework considered the disclosure of:
The Report recognised companies that provided thorough disclosure of modern slavery risks and
identified companies that provided an unclear and incomplete description of their risks and the actions undertaken to mitigate them.
This is a clear message from the market to reporting entities that demonstrates that the
Modern Slavery Statements are important to clients and investors, they will be scrutinised, and
‘template’ or bare-minimum reporting is not enough.
Reporting entities will therefore do wisely to avoid being ‘named and shamed’ and protect their
reputation by responsibly addressing the mandatory criteria for Modern Slavery Statements.
The Monash Report has relevance for the construction firms due to the complex nature of
international supply chains involving raw materials extraction, recycling, manufacture, logistics and labour.
The industry is therefore particularly vulnerable to unseen exploitation in the construction supply
chain, and businesses may be unknowingly supporting modern slavery practices.
To comply with the Modern Slavery Act regime, construction entities must understand the key risks
of modern slavery in their supply chains and operations, and develop innovative and targeted strategies to mitigate those risks.
Kreisson’s eBook “Modern Slavery – A Report Card on Modern Slavery Statements, Lessons for the Construction Industry” provides insight into the key risks facing the construction industry, and industry- specific actions that firms should implement as part of their modern slavery management strategy.
Please contact us on (02) 8239 6500 or at excellence@kreisson.com.au if you have any
queries or need any assistance.
This communication is sent by Kreisson Legal Pty Limited (ACN 113 986 824). This communication has been prepared for the general information of clients and professional associates of Kreisson Legal. You should not rely on the contents. It is not legal advice and should not be regarded as a substitute for legal advice. The contents may contain copyright.
[1] Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) section 4 https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018A00153
[2] Australian Borderforce – Modern Slavery Register https://modernslaveryregister.gov.au/
[3] Modern Slavery Amendment Bill 2021 (NSW) https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bill/files/3873/First%20Print.pdf
4] Monash Centre for Financial Studies – Modern Slavery Statement Disclosure Quality https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/2652887/MCFS-Research-brief_Modern-Slavery-Statement-ASX100-3-1.pdf
Associate Director | 02 8239 6505
