Business groups have criticised a plan to introduce a new criminal offence for large companies that fail to prevent forced labour in their supply chains, saying the move “adds mountains of paperwork”.
Under new changes announced by Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, modern slavery laws will be strengthened with harsher penalties.
Companies with an annual revenue of more than $100 million will be subject to a new criminal offence in addition to a new civil penalty that will be added to the existing Modern Slavery Act, which was last updated in 2018.
Business Council chief executive Bran Black said while slavery has no place in Australian business, the priority should be effective implementation of existing reporting requirements.
“Unfortunately, this announcement adds mountains of paperwork to an already paperwork-intensive system, forcing companies to focus on compliance with new and even more onerous requirements,” he said.
“Undermining a robust system with a hastily conceived new offence doesn’t help end modern slavery.”
Firms will have a defence if they can prove they took reasonable steps to prevent modern slavery, to protect businesses that try to do the right thing.
The size of fines companies could face will be determined following consultation, but is expected to be proportionate to the size of the company.
Freya Dinshaw, Associate Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the announcement was a welcome and long-overdue step towards strengthening Australia’s modern slavery laws.
“Most importantly, the proposed changes create a clear obligation on companies to take action to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains – this has the potential to drive real change to workers’ lives,” she said.
Australia’s Anti-Slavery Commissioner Chris Evans said introducing criminal provisions sent a signal to businesses that they need to treat modern slavery with the seriousness it deserves.
An estimated 50 million people across the world are enslaved, according to the Global Slavery Index.
This includes people trapped in human trafficking and forced labour.
The changes will add “teeth” to the legislative framework, as Australians rightly expect that the products they buy are not made on the back of modern slavery, Ms Rowland said.
It comes weeks after the Trump administration proposed a 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian exports to the US, as part of new levies on 60 countries the White House claims have inadequate anti-slavery laws.
The higher US tariffs are expected to come into force this month when the current baseline 10 per cent levy imposed on Australia expires.
The nation’s anti-slavery commissioner has previously accused the US of weaponising human rights issues for its own purposes, while acknowledging Australia needed to do more to prevent forced labour in supply chains.
Ms Rowland said the government had consistently made the case that tariffs on Australian products were unjustified but declined to say whether the tariffs and the modern slavery crackdown were connected.
The Greens have pledged their support for the changes, meaning the government will have the numbers to pass the legislation through the Senate.
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