Most Australian companies will need to submit their first Modern Slavery Statement by the end of 2020. But what do organisations really need to include to be compliant?
Robin Mellon, CEO of Better Sydney advises, your Modern Slavery Statement will need to ‘answer’ (or respond to) these seven reporting criteria:
- The name of your organisation as an entity
- Your organisation’s structure and operations
- Your organisation’s key modern slavery risks
- The actions being taken to address them
- How your organisation assesses the effectiveness of the actions being taken
- What consultation has taken place within parts of your organisation’s business (including overseas)
- Any ‘other initiatives’ – consultation, collaboration etc.
Below are some examples of how other organisations have submitted statements in the UK. This gives an idea of how others have done it and the level of detail required.
- University of the West of England, Bristol: https://www2.uwe.ac.uk/services/Marketing/about-us/Finance%20Services/Modern-Slavery-Statement.pdf
- Marks & Spencer (retailer), UK: https://corporate.com/documents/plan-a-our-approach/mns-modern-slavery-statement-june2018.pdf
- Balfour Beatty (infrastructure), UK: https://www.balfourbeatty.com/media/317365/modern-slavery-statement-2018.pdf
- Telstra Limited (UK arm of Telstra): https://www.com/media/317365/modern-slavery-statement-2018.pdf
- Commonwealth Bank: https://www.commbank.au/content/dam/commbank-assets/about-us/2019-01/CBA-Modern-Slavery-Human-Trafficking-Statement-2018.pdf
If your organisation needs to submit a Modern Slavery Statement and you are not sure where to start, call us on 1300 552 335 or email info@informed365.com, we would be happy to share insights on how some of Australia’s biggest companies are taking the action in preparation.
