Andrew Forrest, founder of anti-slavery initiative the Walk Free Foundation, has welcomed an Australian Government proposal requiring large businesses to report how they are combatting modern slavery in supply chains, saying the legislation would be a “game-changer” in the fight to end slavery around the world.
Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan announced on Wednesday that the Government would introduce legislation making it a requirement for large businesses to report annually on actions taken to address modern slavery.
He said the move would not only “support the business community to respond more effectively to modern slavery, raise business awareness of the issue and create a level playing field for business to share information about what they are doing to eliminate modern slavery” but also “encourage business to use their market influence to improve workplace standards and practices”.
Welcoming the measures, Mr Forrest said the move was strongly backed by the business sector. “We know governments can’t defeat the insidious abuse of our fellow humans on their own,” he said. “By enlisting the power of business, we can ensure that slavery is not part of the goods that Australians buy and consume.”
The mining magnate said the foundation would continue to work with the Federal Government to ensure the creation of what he described as a “UK-style Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s Office” to coordinate what Mr Forrest said would be “a stronger domestic response”.
The Federal Opposition has attacked the Government’s proposed legislation as “weak” with Labor’s justice spokesperson Clare O’Neil reported as saying the under the proposal, companies will be “essentially free to decide” if they will comply with the reporting requirements.
“Essentially the Government’s setting up a scheme that provides a written obligation for companies to do something with no penalties if they don’t comply with it,” she said.
The Federal Government has released a consultation paper – Modern Slavery in Supply Chains Reporting Requirement – to encourage discussion of the proposed requirement. The deadline for submissions on the paper is 20th October.
