Consult Australia has developed a short, sharp business guide to help members understand the Act and what it means for them. The guide outlines the case for voluntary adoption of anti-modern slavery business practices, provides tips on working with governments and shares member case studies.
Around 41,000 people in Australia are currently living in modern slavery, according to the 2024 Global Slavery Index. The United Nations and Walk Free Foundation estimate that 49.6 million people are trapped in modern slavery around the world.
Modern slavery, at its heart, is a relationship based on exploitation defined by a range of practices including trafficking in persons, servitude, forced marriage, forced labour, debt bondage, deceptive recruiting for labour and services, and child labour.
Businesses operating in Australia with annual revenues of $100 million or more are required to report on the risk of slavery in their supply chains and operations, and to outline their plans to address that risk, under the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).
“When the Act was first introduced, Consult Australia developed a business guide on the mandatory requirements. This was not necessarily relevant to all members,” says Consult Australia’s Head of Policy and Government Relations, Kristy Eulenstein.
“Consult Australia member Orion Consulting recently came to us to ask how to voluntarily commit to combatting modern slavery – and this proactive leadership prompted the development of our latest resource.”
Dominic Lynch, Orion Consulting’s Program Director, collaborated with the Consult Australia team to develop the business guide.
“It was fantastic to work with Consult Australia on this guide. We were looking for some advice ourselves and the opportunity to combine legislative knowledge and expertise with a real-life scenario was extremely valuable. We hope the guide is as useful to other businesses as it is to us.”