Modern slaveryÂ
What is modern slavery in supply chains?
Evidence suggests that the risk of modern slavery affects every industry, from electronics to seafood, mining, textiles, and transportation. Whilst modern slavery is illegal in every country in the world, it still occurs, despite countries having a modern slavery act. Legislation, such as the UK's Modern Slavery Act 2015 and Australia's Modern Slavery Act 2018, is designed to combat modern slavery and consolidates previous offences relating to trafficking and slavery.
Slavery in the supply chain is the abuse of human rights in the pursuit of profits. Organisations have sought lower prices direct from lower cost countries. However, national governments cannot be relied upon to enforce their own laws and meet the expectations of consumers of respected brands. As a result, if organisations want to source globally at low cost, it's their responsibility undertake their own assurance of basic human rights and slavery in supply chains.
Where should a modern slavery statement be published?
According to the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, a commercial organisation is required to publish an annual statement if all the criteria below apply:
- It supplies goods of services
- It has an annual turnover of £36 million or more
- It carries on a business, or part of a business, in the UK
- It is a ‘body corporate’ or a partnership, wherever incorporated for formed
The Australia Modern Slavery Act 2018 established a national Modern Slavery reporting requirement.
- Organisations required to comply with the reporting requirement, including the Australian Government, must prepare annual Modern Slavery Statements. .
- The modern slavery statement must address all 7 mandatory reporting criteria. For more information and guidance visit, Modern slavery
This requirement applies to organisations in Australia with annual consolidated revenue of A$100 million or more.
You must also:
- Update your modern slavery statement every year within six months of your organisation’s financial year-end
- Publish your modern slavery statement on your UK website in a prominent place
- Get approval from the board of directors
- Get sign off from a director
Organisations are not expected to guarantee their supply chains are slavery free. However, the statement must lay out the steps your organisation has taken to deal with modern slavery risks in the supply chain.
What are some examples of modern slavery?
There are many different types of ‘modern slavery’ and often is used as an umbrella term. Some of the forms of modern slavery are:
- Human trafficking:
This is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring a person through coercive means for the purpose of exploitation. - Forced labour:
Forced labour is work or service that is taken from a person under the menace of a penalty and for which the person has not offered themself voluntarily. - Debt bondage:
Debt bondage is a worker pledging their labour or the labour of others under their control as security for a debt; when either the real value of the work undertaken is never applied to repayment of the debt, or the length and nature of the work that must be undertaken is never fully defined or limited. - Sale and exploitation of children:
The sale and exploitation of children involves situations where children are transferred by one person to another for remuneration or other consideration.
For more information on how to tackle modern slavery in supply chains, please visit our guide developed in partnership with Walk Free.
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