Law Council of Australia

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Strengthening the Modern Slavery Act

Submission Date: 8 September 2025

The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department to comment on proposed reforms to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (MS Act) outlined in its Consultation Paper of July 2025.1

The Law Council, along with its Constituent Bodies and its Business and Human Rights Committee, has been a steadfast supporter of the MS Act. The Law Council supported the original passage of the MS Act in 20182 and have since engaged with the 2023 Review and the 2025 passage of the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Act 2024 (Cth),3 among other related processes.4

It is vital for the integrity and effectiveness of the modern slavery regime, including for the protection of people who are at risk of or have experienced modern slavery, that businesses accurately and meaningfully identify, address and report on modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains or networks.

More specifically, in relation to the present consultation, the Law Council welcomes the Government’s commitment in the Consultation Paper to strengthening the MS Act to ensure that operations and supply chains/networks of goods and services provided to Australians are not tainted by modern slavery and like practices.5

The Law Council has supported the recommendations of the 2023 Statutory Review of the MS Act (McMillan Review),6 and is pleased that the Government is progressing towards implementing those recommendations. The Law Council acknowledges that many of the McMillan Review recommendations are significant and complex,7 and appreciate the Government’s careful consideration of how best to implement them. In parallel with the present consultation, the Law Council also welcomes the Government’s ongoing work on the Guidance for Reporting Entities and technical aspects of the Modern Slavery Statements Register, in line with relevant recommendations of the McMillan Review.8

Although the Law Council generally welcomed the Government’s official response to the McMillan Review,9 the Law Council would like to see more progress towards human rights due diligence requirements for business, including in relation to modern slavery.10 The Law Council understands that the present public consultation is ‘Stream A’, and that further targeted ‘Stream B’ consultations (including in relation to due diligence and high-risk matters) are planned. The Law Council would be pleased to participate in any further consultations on strengthening the MS Act, including with respect to mandatory due diligence.

The Law Council also observes that the reporting regime established under the MS Act falls short of best practice in combating modern slavery. We recommend the adoption of principles and processes set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights of 2011 (UNGPs),11 the Hidden in Plain Sight Senate committee report of 201712 and the McMillan Review, to address the regime’s flaws. In particular:

  1. The current regime is not mandatory for the majority of Australian businesses with international supply networks (only those with annual consolidated revenues of more than $100,000,000). Even though the Government has not accepted Recommendation 4 of the McMillan review, lowering the revenue cap to $50,000,000 would address this issue.
  2. At present, the regime does not require reporting entities to report on remediation processes or grievance mechanisms that they might have established in response to the identification of modern slavery concerns in their supply networks. Consideration should be given to how the reporting requirements could address these matters in line with Recommendation 8 of the McMillan Review.13
  3. The legislation does not currently impose any repercussions for failures by reporting entities to meet their reporting obligations. This should be the highest priority for reform, and could be addressed by a civil penalty regime as described in this submission.

The MS Act also eschews any civil right of action or compensation scheme for victim-survivors of modern slavery, both of which were recommended by the Hidden in Plain Sight report.14 Providing access to an effective remedy for modern slavery survivors is an international legal obligation. The right to an effective remedy is itself a human right that States have a duty to fulfil.15 Specifically in the context of modern slavery, the International Labour Organisation’s 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention 1930 (No 29), which Australia ratified in 2022, obliges States parties to provide protection and remedies, including compensation, to victim-survivors of forced labour. Further attention should be given to fulfilling the right of victim-survivors of modern slavery to access an effective remedy.

The Law Council understands the present consultation is limited in its scope to addressing Recommendations 8, 9, 17, 18, 20 and 21 of the McMillan Review. The submission deals with each question in the Consultation Paper in turn.

1 AGD, Strengthening the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth): Consultation Paper 2025: https://consultations.ag.gov.au/crime/modern-slavery-act.
2 Law Council, Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Submission, 13 December 2022): https://lawcouncil.au/resources/submissions/review-of-the-commonwealth-modern-slavery-act-2018. See further Law Council, Establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia (Submission, 28 April 2017) <PDF link>.
3 Law Council, Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023 (Submission, 9 February 2024): https://lawcouncil.au/resources/submissions/modern-slavery-amendment-australian-anti-slavery-commissioner-bill-2023.
4 See eg Law Council, National Action Plan to Combat Modern Slavery 2020-24: Public Consultation Paper (Submission, 21 February 2020): https://lawcouncil.au/resources/submissions/national-action-plan-to-combat-modern-slavery-2020-24-public-consultation-paper.
5 AGD, Strengthening the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth): Consultation Paper 2025: https://consultations.ag.gov.au/crime/modern-slavery-act, 4.
6 See Law Council, Call to Parties 2025: https://lawcouncil.au/resources/publications/call-to-parties-2025, 26.
7 Consultation Paper, 4.
8 Ibid.
9 AGD, Australian Government response to the review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth): https://www.ag.gov.au/crime/publications/australian-government-response-review-report-modern-slavery-act-2018-cth.
10 See McMillan Review Report: https://www.ag.gov.au/crime/publications/report-statutory-review-modern-slavery-act-2018-cth, Recommendation 11 (merely ‘noted’ in the official response).
11 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf.
12 Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Parliament of Australia, Hidden in Plain Sight: An inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia (December 2017): https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/ModernSlavery/Final_report.
13 UNGPs 21, 22, 29 and 31 are relevant in this context.
14 Hidden in Plain Sight report, Recommendations 2 and 25.
15 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature 19 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force 23 March 1976), Article 2.3; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, opened for signature 10 December 1984, 1465 UNTS 85 (entered into force 26 June 1987) Article 14; Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, opened for signature 18 December 1979, 1249 UNTS 13 (entered into force 3 September 1981) Article 2; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, opened for signature 7 March 1966, 660 UNTS 195 (entered into force 4 January 1969) Article 6; and implicitly required in Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, opened for signature 13 December 2006, 2515 UNTS 3 (entered into force 3 May 2008; entry into force for Australia 16 August 2008). Article 4. See also Simmons, Burn and McLeod, ‘Modern Slavery and Material Justice: The Case for Remedy and Reparation’ (2022) 45(1) University of NSW Law Journal 148, available at https://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Issue-451-Simmons-et-al.pdf.

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