The Government will now consider the recommendations made. Many, but not all, the recommendations would require legislative amendments to be passed if the Government agrees with them.
In the meantime, businesses may wish to take stock of their current modern slavery reporting to consider whether they are prepared for a potential strengthening of the Act. Key questions to consider are:
- What is your business’s revenue threshold and will your business have to report if it is lowered to $50 million?
- Would a lower threshold impact any of your key suppliers or customers?
- Is your modern slavery reporting comprehensive and up to date?
- Does your reporting faithfully include a transparent disclosure of risk?
- Are your business’s modern slavery risk responses supported by robust human rights due diligence?
- What actions are being taken in response to modern slavery risk and how are you assessing their effectiveness?