Identifying and Reducing Modern Slavery through Supply Chain Transparency
Modern slavery is a serious issue that affects businesses worldwide. The International Labor Organisation estimates that over 40 million people around the world are victims of modern slavery. In recent years, supply chain transparency is a key policy strategy used by governments to identify and prevent business practices that lead to modern slavery.
The core aim of these policies is to stop modern slavery practices being part of domestic operations or overseas supply chains for goods and services entering the respective countries. At the forefront of enacted legislation are Australia, UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, and Norway. The New Zealand government has also put forward draft legislation in early 2022.
Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth)
The Modern Slavery Act 2018 in Australia is one of the world’s leading legislations for supply chain transparency aimed at combating modern slavery.
This act requires certain entities, including companies and other organizations, to report on the risks of modern slavery within their operations and supply chains. The act defines modern slavery to include practices such as forced labour, human trafficking, debt bondage, and child labour.
Reporting entities must submit an annual Modern Slavery Statement, detailing the steps taken to address and prevent modern slavery, and their due diligence processes. The act also established the Modern Slavery Reporting Requirement, which enhances transparency and accountability in supply chains.
Mandatory Reporting Requirements in Australia
To meet the mandatory reporting requirements in Australia, applicable organisations must respond to mandatory reporting criteria each year as part of their annual Modern Slavery Statement. Answering the reporting criteria requires a lot of knowledge of your organisation’s supply chain, and assessing your supply chain each year is the hardest part of producing the annual statement.
The core aim of these policies is to stop modern slavery practices being part of domestic operations or overseas supply chains for goods and services entering the respective countries. At the forefront of enacted legislation are Australia, UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, and Norway. The New Zealand government has also put forward draft legislation in early 2022.
The Modern Slavery Act 2018 in Australia is one of the world’s leading legislations for supply chain transparency, and an independent review of the UK Act made recommendations that would align the reporting requirements to what is used in Australia. Businesses need to keep on top of legislative requirements and implement a cost-effective solution to easily meet these requirements now, and in the future.
We make Supply Chain Transparency Easy and Affordable for Every Company
The iPRO Modern Slavery Assessment tool allows you to rapidly assess your global supply chain. It helps to identify areas in your supply chain that may be vulnerable to exploitation and human rights abuses, and provides a framework for implementing measures to mitigate these risks.
The tool uses a comprehensive and proactive approach, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of your risks. This includes assessing the risk of slavery for your supply chain, identifying areas of vulnerability, and providing recommendations for reducing the risk of slavery exposure. The software is easy to use, with a user-friendly interface that allows you to assess modern slavery risks quickly and effectively.
Detailed reports with supply chain maps and personalised action plans are provided post-assessment and are designed to help you easily produce your annual modern slavery statements, policies, remediation plans, and more. We understand that there is a cost, time, and effort to adhere to legislative requirements and this is why we’ve invested years of research and development to make supply chain transparency easy and accessible for all organisations.
How we Assist your Business to Address the Mandatory Reporting Criteria
The iPRO Modern Slavery Assessment tool covers key areas required for describing and providing information
about modern slavery risks in your supply chain, enabling your business to confidently address mandatory reporting
requirements for your Modern Slavery Statement.
For the full list of mandatory reporting criteria, you can view the legislation here.
CRITERIA 2: Describe the reporting entity’s structure, operations, and supply chains.
The Modern Slavery Assessment reporting gives you industry and geography insights on your supply chain. With this you can get a clear picture of your supply chain structure to describe in your Modern Slavery Statement.
CRITERIA 3: Describe the risks of modern slavery practices in the operations and supply chains of the reporting entity and any entities it owns or controls.
The Modern Slavery Assessment reporting gives you a calculated risk score for your suppliers, as well as detailed insights so that you know the specific areas of risk exposure. The online questionnaire is comprehensive, covering questions across geography, industry, policy, procedure, workforce, and training topics for a detailed survey of your suppliers’ modern slavery risks.
CRITERIA 4: Describe the actions taken by the reporting entity and any entities it owns or controls to assess and address these risks, including due diligence and remediation processes.
Conducting an annual Modern Slavery Assessment is a key action for due diligence. We can help you assess your supply chains annually, and/or assess new suppliers for you as part of pre-qualification or onboarding with your organisation. In addition to a risk score and risk insights, we also give you suggested risk mitigation actions. This enables you to focus your follow up to create and update remediation plans and processes where applicable.
CRITERIA 5: Describe how the reporting entity assesses the effectiveness of these actions.
The Insights Report metrics can be used to benchmark your supply chain. Assessing your supply chain each year with our Modern Slavery Assessment gives you objective measures for gauging effectiveness and improvement each year.
CRITERIA 6: Describe the process of consultation with any entities the reporting entity owns or controls (a joint statement must also describe consultation with the entity giving the statement).
The Modern Slavery Assessment can be used by large organisations with separate entities across the globe to objectively measure each entity’s supply chain against a set of common metrics. Using the same assessment across your entities also enables you to have meaningful anti-slavery conversations and consultations between each owned entity.
The iPRO Modern Slavery Assessment Tool is the fastest and most affordable way to help you deal with your modern slavery reporting obligations.