Australia’s ‘Modern Slavery’ Proposal Falls Short | Human Rights Watch
In mid-August Australia’s justice minister proposed a new law requiring the country’s biggest companies to report on their practices and policies to prevent forced labour in their operations and supply chains. The government wants to ensure that consumer products like food, electronics, and clothing – whether they’re made abroad or domestically – are not produced by people forced to work against their will. It is a laudable goal, but the steps they’ve taken are inadequate.
The proposed law builds on the Australian government’s existing commitments to combat modern forms of slavery, and takes the added step of requiring large companies operating in Australia to report annually on their operations and supply chains; on the risks for forced labour and other conditions seen as amounting to slavery to appear or exist within those supply chains; and on whether the company has policies and practices in place to eliminate these conditions. Notably, it also requests information on due diligence – the processes that companies use to identify, monitor, and address ‘slavery-like’ practices or the risk of these occurring…
Finish reading: Australia’s ‘Modern Slavery’ Proposal Falls Short | Human Rights Watch
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