Group reporting, mutual recognition and narrower director liability among select committee’s Modern Slavery Bill amendments
The Modern Slavery Bill (Bill) has cleared an important milestone, with the Education and Workforce Select Committee (Committee) reporting back and recommending that it be passed – but with a number of significant amendments.
The Bill, jointly sponsored by Camilla Belich MP and Greg Fleming MP, would require entities with consolidated revenue exceeding $100 million to publicly report on how they identify, address, mitigate and remediate modern slavery within their operations and supply chains. See our previous Insights on the Bill here and here.
While the core reporting framework under the Bill remains largely unchanged, the Committee has recommended a range of amendments intended to improve the regime's workability, increase alignment with comparable frameworks in New Zealand and Australia, and provide greater clarity as to how the regime will operate in practice. Many of these changes respond to issues raised by submitters during the select committee process, including Russell McVeagh.
This article discusses the amendments most likely to affect businesses preparing for the regime, along with the key policy issues the Committee has deferred for future consideration.
The Committee recommended several amendments, many of which will be welcomed by businesses preparing for the new regime:
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