"Australia ratifies International Forced Labour Protocol", 5 April 2022

The Australian Government has now ratified the most contemporary international labour standard to address forced labour, reflecting its longstanding commitment to combatting modern slavery in all of its insidious forms.

The Federal Executive Council has approved the ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Protocol of 2014 to Forced Labour Convention 1930 (No. 29) (the Protocol) and Australia communicated its formal ratification to the Director-General of the ILO in Geneva for registration. This followed the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties’ recommendation that binding treaty action be taken with respect to the Protocol.

[...]

The Protocol adds new elements to the ILO Forced Labour Convention 1930 (No. 29), aimed at tackling the complexities of modern slavery and addressing the root causes of forced labour, with obligations to:

• prevent and suppress forced labour,
• protect victims and provide access to appropriate and effective remedies, and
• penalise the perpetrators of forced labour and end their impunity.

[...]