Australian antislavery law compels businesses to take action
Australia's opposition and trade unions question the lack of penalties and call for an independent antislavery tsar
London — More than 3,000 businesses in Australia would be forced to disclose how they tackle the threat of modern slavery under a proposed law hailed by politicians and campaigners on Thursday as stronger than Britain’s landmark antislavery legislation. The Australian government said it would introduce its Modern Slavery Act to parliament by mid-2018 and outlined on Thursday its requirements which will compel large companies to publish an annual public statement on their actions to address slavery. Compared with Britain’s 2015 law, Australia’s legislation would be stricter on the content of the statements, and the government would publish a list of entities required to comply — those with a turnover of at least A$100m ($75m). "This ... takes the Australian Modern Slavery Act beyond its precursor in the UK, which is the gold standard for modern slavery reporting, by including a central repository of statements," said Jenn Morris, head of the Walk Free Foundation, a global antitraffic...
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