The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade adopted an Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia. With reference to the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 and to relevant findings from the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade’s report, Trading Lives: Modern Day Human Trafficking, the inquiry examined whether Australia should adopt a comparable Modern Slavery Act.
Anti-Slavery Australia advocates for the introduction of key elements of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, strengthened and adapted to the Australian context including: a mandatory reporting framework to ensure transparency in the supply chains of goods and services in Australia; the creation of an office of the Anti-Slavery Ombudsman to parallel the role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner in the UK; and sector-specific licensing for the labour hire sector. Anti-Slavery Australia recommends the introduction of Forced Marriage Prevention Orders, a national victims crime compensation scheme for victims of slavery and human trafficking as well as improvements to the Australian human trafficking visa framework.