“Modern Slavery legislation will be drafted and before Parliament during the first half of this year”.
Yesterday (February 14th 2018) Australian Assistant Minister for Home Affairs Alex Hawke MP announced:
“Modern Slavery legislation will be drafted and before Parliament during the first half of this year”.
At an event held by the Salvation Army and Walk Free Foundation at Parliament House in Canberra, the Assistant Minister also affirmed the key goal underpinning this legislation is to ensure a level playing field for the business community, encouraging a “race to the top” attitude.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/australias-modern-slavery-act-legislation-likely-mid-2018-mcgregor/?trackingId=M5yovJZAj2Nbyf%2F%2FMMC2yw%3D%3D
The Assistant Minister repeated his support for requiring business to comply with transparency reporting requirements under an Australian Modern Slavery Act. On 16 August 2017, the Minister for Justice, the Hon Michael Keenan MP, released a consultation paper on the Australian Government’s proposed Modern Slavery in Supply Chains Reporting Requirement (consultation paper). The consultation paper states that the Australian Government’s primary objective is to:
The reporting requirement was also a key recommendation from the Joint Standing Committee’s Inquiry Report Hidden in Plain Sight.
This news suggests that it would be wise for businesses to begin preparations for reporting.
In addition to legislation, the Government will commence a 12 month trial for supporting victims of forced marriage. According to today's press release, this means that victims of forced marriage will be able to access up to 200 days of support through the Support for Trafficked People Program without being required to contribute to a criminal investigation or prosecution. The trial aims to build an evidence based model on the best way to provide support for these victims. The Australian Red Cross is being funded $500,000 to implement and evaluate the trial.