Australian Modern Slavery Act to move into a new phase?

On 24 May 2023, the Australian Government tabled a report outlining recommendations for reform of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (Act). The report is the output of a statutory review of the Act by Professor John McMillan AO, which sought public consultation on the effectiveness of the first three years of the Act.

The Report makes 30 recommendations for the Government’s consideration, many of which seek to align the Act with overseas regulatory trends for enhanced human rights due diligence, supply chain transparency and penalties to support corporate accountability.

Key recommendations include:

1. a lowered reporting threshold (reduced to $50 million);
2. amendments to improve the effectiveness of mandatory reporting criteria;
3. the introduction of a requirement for a mandatory due diligence system;
4. flexibility to permit entities to report on a three-year cycle (with shorter updates in the intervening years);
5. the introduction of penalties for failing to report, making knowingly misleading reports or failing to have a due diligence system; and
6. a formal public complaints mechanism.

Read our full summary

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