Strengthening Australia’s Modern Slavery Compliance

The Labor Government has allocated $8 million in the Federal Budget 2023-24 to establish an Anti-Slavery Commissioner who will play a crucial role in ensuring compliance with modern slavery laws among Australian companies.

The establishment of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner is part of the Labor Government's plan to address modern slavery as outlined in the Modern Slavery Act 2018. Under this Act, companies with a consolidated revenue of at least $100 million within a reporting period are required to submit an annual statement that details the risks of modern slavery and the actions taken to address them. However, compliance remains an issue, with many entities failing to adequately address all the mandatory criteria.

While the specific functions of the Commissioner are yet to be detailed, they are expected to encompass various responsibilities, including promoting action against modern slavery, supporting victims, providing guidance and training, monitoring the effectiveness of reporting, and raising community awareness.

This move aims to push Australian businesses to prioritise modern slavery reporting rather than treating it as a mere box-ticking exercise.

Modern slavery training course

Allara Global has developed an online course Modern Slavery Act Australia - Awareness Training to assist companies in training their employees on the risks associated with modern slavery.

Developed in partnership with global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright Australia, this training course has been designed for all employees to gain an understanding on how to identify and report modern slavery within and around the workplace.