Submission to the Review of Australia's Modern Slavery Act 2018

Congratulations to Centre member Associate Professor Erin O’Brien recently led a Submission to the Review of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018 together with PhD candidate Justine Coneybeer, Professor Ellie Chapple, PhD candidate Shakoor Ahmed, PhD candidate Adriana Bora, Dr Bronwyn McCredie, Associate Professor Rowena Magquire, Professor Alice Payne and Centre members, Associate Professor Bree Hurst and Associate Professor Deanna Grant-Smith.

Abstract
Globally, human rights due diligence (HRDD) legislation is rapidly growing, with new HRDD legislation introduced or passed in multiple jurisdictions over the past 8 years. This legislative trend has seen countries adopt increasingly stringent requirements and penalties, and demands for precision in addressing specific human rights abuses (e.g., United States Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (2021)). If Australia is to keep pace with these global trends and strive to act as a world leader in combatting modern slavery, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 should be strengthened.

This submission draws on expertise on modern slavery across policy, business management, accounting, law and data science. Our research informs our answers to specific consultation questions (detailed below) and our recommendations.

This submission refers to upstream and downstream due diligence which is used to describe obligations flowing upstream (i.e., responsibility being placed upon producers of raw products who sell into global value chains) as well as downstream due diligence (obligations upon retailers procuring products from global supply chains). Capturing both upstream and downstream due diligence is essential to reforming the supply chain across the entirety and creates obligations for all within various value chains.

In summary, we urge an approach to modern slavery that moves beyond a transparency framework towards a regime requiring upstream and downstream due diligence, with effective accountability and enforcement mechanisms.

Read the full submission which includes the recommendations to achieve this, and a full list of recommendations in response to consultation questions.