Property, Construction and Modern Slavery (2020)

 Nov. 9, 2020

The Australian Human Rights Commission and KPMG Banrra joined hands to produce a guidebook on "Property, Construction and Modern Slavery" The Guide provides practical responses to managing risks to people and to help the property and construction industry respond effectively to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).  This Act requires certain number of large companies to report every year on their efforts to address risks of modern slavery in their global operations and supply chains.

 The guide indicated that the Corporate human rights reporting in Australia has changed since the modern slavery legislation requires boards responsible for public statements about their entities' efforts to manage the risk of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

What does the guide show?  The guide;

1. Highlights particular modern slavery risks prevalent in the property and construction sector.

2. Provides tips for the property and construction sector on leading practice and a rights-based approach to managing modern slavery risk.

3. Fosters transparent modern slavery reporting for the benefit of business, government and the people at risk of harm.

Below are  a few Q&A extracted from the Guide.

1.1 What does the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) require?

 Making an annual statement

The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) requires entities with a consolidated revenue of $100 million or more to submit an annual modern slavery statement on what they are doing to identify and manage modern slavery risk in their operations and supply chain. The statements will be published on a central
government registry.

Modern slavery statements require approval of the Board (or equivalent)1 and the signature of a
Director or a responsible member of the entity.

Entities that fall outside the threshold can demonstrate good practice by reporting through a voluntary ‘opt in’ mechanism.

The mandatory reporting criteria

There are seven mandatory reporting criteria:

1. identify the reporting entity 

2. your structure, operations and supply chains

3. the risks of modern slavery practices in your operations and supply chain and any entities owned or controlled by you

4. actions taken to assess and address those risks, including modern slavery due diligence and remediation processes

5. how you assess the effectiveness of actions taken

6. the process of consultation with entities owned and/or controlled by you

7. any other information that you consider relevant

This guide focuses on the risks and actions to support your practical response to modern slavery.

1.2 What is modern slavery?

Modern slavery refers to a range of serious human rights violations, which are also crimes in Australia. The term is used to describe situations where coercion, threats or deception are used to exploit people and deprive them of their freedom.
 

Modern slavery includes trafficking in persons, slavery, servitude, forced marriage, forced labour, debt bondage, the worst forms of child labour, and deceptive recruiting for labour or services.
 

While the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) requires companies to look specifically at modern slavery, taking a broader approach and considering the full spectrum of human rights risks and impacts will enhance the credibility and strength of your modern slavery response and statement. 

Download  full guide: https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/ahrc_kpmg_modernslavery_property_construction_2020.pdf

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