To recap, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (the act) entered into force on 1 January 2019. Under the act, entities operating in the Australian market with an annual revenue of at least $100 million are required to provide a modern slavery statement.

The newly released Commonwealth Guidelines contains helpful tips on determining whether an organisation is an Australian entity or a foreign entity conducting business in Australia, and how to calculate the organisation’s consolidated revenue. 

Temporary extension

Earlier in the year, reporting entities due to submit their first modern slavery statements in 2020 were granted an additional three months. The aim of the extension was to support reporting entities to assess modern slavery risks associated with COVID-19 and include those assessments as part of their modern slavery statements.

The following table sets out the updated reporting deadlines:

Reporting period	Original deadline for submission of modern slavery statement	New, extended deadline for submission of modern slavery statement VIEW ALL
1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020 (foreign financial year)	30 September 2020	31 December 2020
1 July 2019 – 30 June 2020 (Australian financial year)	31 December 2020	31 March 2021
Reporting periods ending after 30 June 2020.	The six-month deadline for reporting periods ending after 30 June 2020 remains unchanged.	The six-month deadline for reporting periods ending after 30 June 2020 remains unchanged.

It is important to note that the act does not require reporting entities to certify that they are modern slavery-free. Rather, reporting entities are required to make reasonable efforts to understand, catch, remediate and mitigate modern slavery and modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains.

A modern slavery statement must cover at least the following mandatory criteria:

• the identity of the reporting entity;
• the structure, operations and supply chains of the reporting entity;
• the risks of modern slavery practices in the operations and supply chains of the reporting entity, and any entities that the reporting entity owns or controls;
• the actions taken by the reporting entity and any entity that the reporting entity owns or controls, to assess and address those risks;
• how the reporting entity assesses the effectiveness of such actions;
• the process of consultation with any entities the reporting entity owns or controls or is issuing a joint modern slavery statement with; and
• any other information that the reporting entity, or the entity giving the statement, considers relevant. 

In case of non-compliance, reporting entities will be dealt with in one of two ways. First, the relevant minister may request an explanation for the non-compliance with a reporting obligation.

Second, the relevant minister may request that the reporting entity undertake a remedial action in relation to the failed compliance of a requirement. If the reporting entity fails to comply with the minister’s request, the minister may publish the reporting entity’s identity and details of the non-compliance.

The spotlight is now on reporting entities to make genuine attempts and address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains.

Arthur Marusevich is a lawyer based in Canberra.