The Australian Human Rights Commission and KPMG Australia are today launching, Modern Slavery in the Health Services Sector: Practical responses to managing risks to people, a guide to help the sector respond effectively to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).
The Act requires large companies with a consolidated annual revenue of $100m or more to report annually on their strategies to address risks of modern slavery in their global operations and supply chains.
Modern slavery refers to a range of serious human rights violations, which are also crimes in Australia.
They include:
- Human trafficking
- Slavery, servitude and forced marriage
- Forced labour, debt bondage and child labour
- Deceptive recruiting for labour or services
According to the Global Slavery Index:
- More than 40 million people around the world are living in modern slavery conditions
- Up to 15,000 victims are living in Australia
The guide is relevant to health sector entities that are required to report under the Modern Slavery Act, and their suppliers. The complex interplay of public and private relationships and ownership structures within the health services sectors, means many organisations within the sector need practical advice on how to respond to their modern slavery risks.
“The recent spotlight on health sector organisations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has not only highlighted the critical importance of the health sector, but also the sector’s modern slavery risks, especially in relation to the procurement of medical goods.” said Commission President, Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM.
“The connection between public and private entities in the sector makes navigating and managing operational and supply chain issues challenging. Nevertheless, with its public interface and intrinsic people-centred focus, the sector is uniquely placed to address modern slavery risks,” said Richard Boele, Partner in Charge of KPMG Banarra Human Rights and Social Impact, Global Leader of Business and Human Rights Network, KPMG Australia.
“The guide is part of a collaboration between the Commission and KPMG which aims to support business to respond meaningfully to the modern slavery risks across a range of sectors,” said Mr Boele.
“Effective management of modern slavery risks involves placing ‘risks to people’ at the heart of your response,” said Mr Boele.
The guide showcases examples of current practice from the sector and provides good practice tips on how to manage key risk areas.
“Taking a rights-based approach to addressing modern slavery will assist health sector organisations to meet the increasing expectations of investors, governments, clients, consumers, business peers and civil society around business respect for human rights,” said Professor Croucher.
Previous guides in this series:
Financial services and modern slavery: Practical responses for managing risk to people
Property construction and modern slavery: Practical responses for managing risk to people
Source: HumanRights.gov.au
