Combating modern slavery in Australian supply chains: a case study of a holistic approach

Abstract

It is an appalling reality that about 50 million people worldwide live under the constraints of modern slavery conditions, such as forced labour, worst form of child labour, debt bondage, servitude and deceptive recruitment and so on. In Australia, the federal government has launched the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth), which sets mandatory criteria for an applicable entity to issue a modern slavery statement. However, there is a clear absence of actionable guidelines for companies to follow, in order to assess and address risks of modern slavery within their value chain. Ambiguous legislative requirements have resulted in poor monitoring that, ultimately, does not effectively help eradicate modern slavery from Australian supply chains. In order to address this gap and provide a practical tool for organisations to combat modern slavery, this article employs a case study to demonstrate how to conduct effective on-site audits to mitigate modern slavery risks through the supply chain. A set of critical factors and potential solutions to remove barriers are discussed.