Modern Slavery Act and the waste sector
If you are dealing with recyclables and have $100 million annual revenue, the Act applies to you as of January 2019
Modern slavery is an umbrella term used to describe trafficking in persons, slavery and slavery-like practices, such as forced labour and forced marriage, as well as the worst forms of child labour.
The Modern Slavery Bill 2018 establishes reporting requirements to strengthen Australia’s approach to combating modern slavery. The objective is to increase business awareness of modern slavery, to reduce modern slavery risks in Australian goods and services and to encourage businesses to improve workplace standards and practices.
- There are no fixed requirements for what must be included in Modern Slavery Statements.
- Recommendations are based on business operations and exposure risks.
- There are no penalties for failing to lodge a statement or lodging an incomplete statement.
- Companies that do not report properly may be asked by the Minister to explain their non-compliance and possibly to undertake remedial action in relation to their Statement.
- Further non-compliance may result in the organisation being publicly listed by the Minister.
- Publicly identifying a non-compliant business is likely to cause reputational damage.
- The Minister is required to report to parliament annually on compliance trends.
Identification and mitigation of Modern Slavery risks generally involves a mapping of the organisation’s supply chain, review of policies and commitments and human rights risk assessment of both the organisation’s operations and its suppliers.
MRA has studied the legislation and developed appropriate risk-based methodologies for Modern Slavery Act 2018 compliance reporting. If your organisation is interested in ensuring compliance with the Act, please contact us at info@mraconsulting.com.au.
