September 2019

We refer to the Inquiry by the Legislative Council's Standing Committee on Social Issues, Parliament of New South Wales, into the Modern Slavery Act 2018 and associated matters. We note that submissions are invited to the Terms of Reference (ToR) for this inquiry.

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In responding to the issues raised in the ToR, we have provided information and insights on the issues that relate directly to our organisational experience and expertise, namely matters relating to s24 (Transparency of supply chain) of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW Act) and accompanying draft Regulation. As such, our submission addresses ToR 1(a), (b), (g), (h) and (i).

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We recommend that the NSW Act is brought into effect, with application to those companies not within the scope of the Cth Act, namely companies with a total annual turnover of between AUD$50m-AUD$100m and not reporting voluntarily under the Cth Act.

The inclusion of penalties for non-compliance with the provisions of s24 of the NSW Act, and provision for an Anti-Slavery Commissioner, represent key improvements, not only on other Australian legislation, but on comparable modern slavery reporting laws worldwide. In this respect, the NSW Act is leading the way globally in terms of legislative action to address the scourge of modern slavery in corporate supply chains.