Editor’s note: Shamistha Selvaratnam is a LLM Candidate of the Advanced Masters of European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden University in the Netherlands and a contributor to the Doing Business Right project of the Asser Institute. Prior to commencing the LLM, she worked as a business and human rights solicitor in Australia where she specialised in promoting business respect for human rights through engagement with policy, law and practice.
The introduction
of the UK, Australian and NSW Modern Slavery Acts are part of the international
trend towards greater regulation and transparency of modern slavery in
corporate supply chains and operations. For example, Canada has recently introduced
a modern slavery bill and Brazil introduced a ‘dirty
list’ to name and shame companies that engage in slave labour back in 2004.
This last blog of a series of articles dedicated to the global modern slavery
developments focuses on the modern slavery developments in jurisdictions other
than the UK and Australia. More...
Editor’s note: Shamistha Selvaratnam is a LLM
Candidate of the Advanced Masters of European and International Human Rights
Law at Leiden University in the Netherlands and a contributor to the Doing Business Right project of the Asser Institute. Prior to commencing the LLM, she
worked as a business and human rights solicitor in Australia where she
specialised in promoting business respect for human rights through engagement
with policy, law and practice.
Soon after the
introduction of the UK Modern Slavery Act
(UK Act) in 2015, discussions about establishing similar legislation in
Australia commenced. In February 2017, the Attorney-General asked the Joint
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (Committee) to
commence an inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia. The terms of reference of the inquiry included, inter alia, considering the
‘prevalence of modern slavery in the domestic and global supply chains of
companies, businesses and organisations operating in Australia’ and whether a
Modern Slavery Act comparable to the UK Act should be introduced in Australia. The
Committee released an interim report in August 2017 and then a final report in December 2017 – both reports supported the idea
of developing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia and set out the Committee’s
recommendations with respect to the parameters of a corporate reporting
requirement. In the meantime, the Australian Government also published a consultation paper and regulation impact statement outlining its proposed reporting
requirement for an Australian Modern Slavery Act.
In June this
year, the first draft of the Modern
Slavery Bill 2018 (Cth) (the Federal Bill) was introduced into the
Australian Parliament. It set out a reporting requirement for large Australian entities
to submit a statement on risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply
chains. The Explanatory Memorandum to the Federal Bill stated that it
supports ‘large businesses to identify and address modern slavery risks and to
develop and maintain responsible and transparent supply chains. It will drive a
‘race to the top’ as reporting entities compete for market funding and investor
and consumer support.’ On 29 November 2018 the Federal Bill passed both houses of the Australian Parliament incorporating
amendments made by the Upper House of Parliament. The amendments resulted in the inclusion
of a provision giving the Minister power to request explanations from entities
that fail to comply with the reporting requirement (discussed in further detail
below) and gives the Minister the power to cause an annual report to be
prepared providing an overview of compliance by entities and identifying best
practice modern slavery reporting.
This second blog
of a series of articles dedicated to the global modern slavery developments
provides an overview of the main elements of the Federal Bill and how it
compares to the UK Act. It also discusses the Modern
Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) (NSW Act), which was introduced by New
South Wales (NSW), a State in Australia. The introduction of NSW Act was relatively
unexpected given the movement at the Federal level to introduce national
legislation addressing modern slavery in the corporate context. Therefore, this
blog will discuss the NSW Act’s interplay with the Federal Bill. It will be
followed by a final piece on the modern slavery developments in other
jurisdictions in the corporate context. More...
Editor’s note: Shamistha Selvaratnam is a LLM
Candidate of the Advanced Masters of European and International Human Rights
Law at Leiden University in the Netherlands and a contributor to the Doing Business Right project of the Asser Institute. Prior to commencing the LLM, she
worked as a business and human rights solicitor in Australia where she
specialised in promoting business respect for human rights through engagement
with policy, law and practice.
Over the past
couple of years, there has been an international trend towards greater
regulation and transparency with respect to modern slavery in corporate supply
chains as reports of gross human rights violations in corporate supply chains
have entered the public spotlight. For example, over the past couple of years
there has been extensive
media attention in relation to the use of slaves trafficked from Cambodia,
Laos, Bangladesh and Myanmar to work on Thai fishing boats to catch fish to be
sold around the globe, with the boats considered to be ‘floating labor camps’. As
a result of events such as this, there has been increased pressure on
businesses to take steps to address modern slavery in their supply chains
through processes such as through conducting risk assessments and due
diligence.
As the Ethical Trading Initiative notes, key risks facing companies in their
supply chains include the use of migrant workers; the use of child labour;
recruitment fees and debt bondage; the use of agency workers and temporary
labour; working hours and wages; and the use of subcontractors. In 2016 the Global Slavery Index reported that 40.3 million people are living in
modern slavery across 167 countries, and in 2014 the ILO estimated that forced labour in the private economy generates
US$150 billion in illegal profits per year.
In March 2015,
the UK Government passed the UK Modern
Slavery Act 2015 (the Act), game-changing legislation that targets, inter
alia, slavery and trafficking in corporate supply chains. The UK Government
also published guidance explaining how businesses should comply with the
Act.
This first blog
of a series of articles dedicated to the global modern slavery developments
provides an overview of the main elements of the Act and how businesses have
responded to it. It will be followed by a review of the proposed Australian
MSA, and a final piece on the developments in other jurisdictions that are considering
introducing legislation regulating modern slavery in the corporate context. More...