By Georgia Davis, Senior Associate

On 28 May 2024, the Australian Parliament passed the Australian Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023. The Bill is yet to receive Royal Assent but in due course will amend the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (the MSA) which has been in force in Australia since 1 January 2019. The incoming Act will establish Australia’s first ever Commonwealth Anti-Slavery Commissioner. The Commonwealth Commissioner will join the current NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner in Australia’s fight against these heinous crimes.

For anyone unfamiliar with the MSA, it is the first law in Australia compelling big businesses (including the Commonwealth government) to address Modern Slavery in a way that they were never obligated to before. The MSA requires any entity that carries on business in Australia with annual consolidated revenue of at least $100 million to provide an annual statement under the legislation. The statement must be submitted to the Department of Attorney General for publication and, among addressing other mandatory criteria, must describe the risks of Modern Slavery in the entity’s own operations and supply chains (and those entities it owns/controls), and what action the entity is taking in response to those risks. In case you missed that word “publication”, yes, a reporting entity’s statement is published on the internet for peers, stakeholders, employees, investors, shareholders, the media and civil society to see.

This legislation is targeted at addressing a serious human rights issue impacting the lives of vulnerable people all over the world. Modern Slavery is a term used to describe only the most serious forms of exploitation including practices like human trafficking, slavery, servitude, forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage and the worst forms of child labour. The nature and prevalence of Modern Slavery (estimated 50 million victims worldwide) means that every entity faces a real risk that it is present in operations or supply chains.

The role of a Commonwealth Anti-Slavery Commissioner will further strengthen Australia’s efforts by providing an independent pillar to the current response to Modern Slavery. The Commonwealth Commissioner will be tasked with 15 functions under the incoming Act, some of which include promoting compliance with the MSA, supporting businesses in addressing their modern slavery risks and supporting victims of modern slavery. We will be watching carefully to understand the impact of the new Commissioner, whether in the form of helpful documents and information to assist reporting entities, increased pressure for action through the supply chains of big Australian businesses, or in endorsing further amendments of the MSA recommended to provide more ‘teeth’ for that Act, as a result of a legislative review in 2023.