This research is the Australian Government’s official advice for entities reporting under the Modern Slavery Act 2018, which includes commercial and not-for-profit entities with annual consolidated revenue of at least AU$100 million. Per the guidance introduction, “the aim of this guide is to explain in plain language what entities need to do to comply with the Act.” It also provides information to entities not covered by the Act that wish to report voluntarily.

The guidance may be considered as three main parts: the first provides contextual information, including who must report, how and when. The second section details how to prepare, approve and publish statements. The final section provides information on assistance available from the government’s Modern Slavery Business Engagement Unit followed by a series of appendices providing further detail and helpful resources. Chapters are structured consistently to address what the Act requires, the rational for each requirement, advised action, and a chapter summary.

Because ‘modern slavery’ is not a legal term in and of itself, the guidance provides a definition for reporting purposes, drawn from Australia’s criminal offences and key international legal instruments. It provides statistical information on ‘modern slavery’ and details how slavery may impact entities. Importantly, the guidance normalises risk to encourage disclosure and recognises that slavery distorts global markets, undercuts responsible business practices, and if left unaddressed, poses substantial reputational and legal risks that may damage commercial relationships.

The first section also responds to key questions including how to manage reporting obligations with other ‘modern slavery’ legislation and how to determine whether an entity is covered by the Act.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights feature heavily throughout the document and are used in tandem with case studies to operationalise expectations for disclosure against the mandatory reporting criteria. For instance, the Modern Slavery Act itself does not define or prescribe a definition of ‘supply chain’; however, it requires entities to describe their structure, operations and supply chains. As such, the guidance provides some detail and hypothetical examples, including one for ‘Financial Investments’ to assist entities determine an appropriate scope for their statements.

The guidance on mandatory reporting criteria interprets the government’s expectations for disclosure under the Act. It explains key terms, delineates inclusions and exclusions, and addresses potential sensitivities around disclosure, such as victim privacy and safety. Because the law’s central focus is on assessing and addressing risk of ‘modern slavery’, there is substantial advice on understanding, scoping and responding to risk. The guidance also provides suggestions to describe how entities may measure the effectiveness of their actions.

The guidance concludes with information on how to approve, publish and revise statements as well as the process if the Minister determines a statement to be unsatisfactory.

The guidance is one of several steps the Australian Government has taken to address recognised gaps in the United Kingdom’s approach to implementing their own Modern Slavery Act 2015, on which the Australian law was modeled, and which was not accompanied by formal and timely reporting advice.

1. The guidance supports reporting under the Australian Modern Slavery Act 2018, which is the world's first modern slavery corporate transparency legislation to include investment activity in disclosure requirements.
2. Specifies that trusts, superannuation funds and other types of investment organisations are included in the types of organisations to which the Australian Modern Slavery Act applies.
3. Clarifies the government's perspective on how financial investments, including investments in non-managed/operated joint ventures, sit within a reporting entity's supply chain versus the entity's operations. For example, internally-managed portfolios and assets would be considered operations, where externally-managed portfolios, such as those managed by another fund manager, may be more appropriately considered part of the entity's supply chains.
4. Provides an explanatory note on how to report on investment and financial lending arrangements as part of a reporting entity's operations.
5. Describes how to scope modern slavery risks for investment and financial lending activities.
6. Intends to provide greater transparency and information to investors and other stakeholders to assess corporate disclosure, accountability and performance regarding modern slavery.
7. Intends to enable investors to identify which reporting entity is covered within a company's modern slavery statement.
   
8. Recognises that reporting will help entities to better respond to questions from customers, investors and business partners.