Combatting Modern Slavery Through the Supply Chain
It is the bitter truth that, majority of the items we own and consume, from our clothing to our food, are made by victims of modern slavery.
40M
There are believed to be over 40 million people worldwide subject to a modern form of slavery
US $150B
It is estimated that modern slavery generates US$150 billion in illegal profits per year.
How is modern slavery present?
These victims are exploited as part of the supply chain, from the harvesting of raw materials like coffee beans and cottons, through the manufacturing of end products like coffee, t-shirts, and mobile phones, to the transportation of the products to the end user, including you.
Procurement has the capacity to combat modern slavery by significantly influencing the supply chain, starting from identifying modern slavery risk from your supplies and suppliers, reporting this risk, and ensuring that the chosen suppliers do not knowingly or unknowingly participate in modern slavery.
There are also increasing governance requirements which require vendors and suppliers to meet governance compliance on social and ethical responsibilities and report against governance requirements. Reporting compliance under the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018 entered into force on 1 January 2018 and established an annual national modern slavery reporting requirement for the Commonwealth Government, large businesses, and other entities in the Australian market, with annual consolidated revenue of at least $100 million.