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Submission to the Attorney-General’s Department on the Review of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018

November 2022

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Yelena Nam

CHOICE has made a submission to the Attorney-General's Department's consultation on the Review of Australia's Modern Slavery Act 2018.

In September 2022, CHOICE conducted a survey to understand consumers' attitudes towards their role in eradicating modern slavery. We found that consumers expect businesses operating in Australia to take responsibility for ensuring their products and services are free from modern slavery at every stage of the supply chain. 

Businesses are in the best position to ensure that they comply with the Act and eradicate modern slavery from their supply chains, not consumers. CHOICE calls for the Federal Government to shift this responsibility from consumers back to businesses. 

The key recommendations in the submission are:

  • The Federal Government introduce strong monetary penalties for non-compliant, negligent or falsified modern slavery reporting. 
  • The Federal Government establish and adequately resource a Federal Anti-slavery Commissioner to ensure business compliance with the Modern Slavery Act. 
  • The Federal Government consider establishing mandatory due diligence obligations on businesses to investigate and address modern slavery in their supply chains.

Download submission (PDF)

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