LSB September 2017

LEGAL PRACTICE
Modern slavery at home & abroad:
What responsibilities should
Australian businesses have?
RAFFAELE PICCOLO AND CELIA MOODIE, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
In February 2017, the
Commonwealth Parliament’s
Joint Standing Committee
on Foreign Affairs, Defence
and Trade was tasked with
inquiring into and reporting
on establishing a Modern
Slavery Act in Australia.
This article will explore the
issue of modern slavery, how
it relates to Australia, and
possibilities for law reform.
MODERN SLAVERY AT HOME AND
ABROAD
The Global Slavery Index 2016 estimates
that 45.8 million people are subject to some
form of modern slavery in 167 countries. 1
That same report notes that the lowest
prevalence of modern slavery continues
to be found in the countries of Western
Europe and North America, and Australia
and New Zealand. Australia is similarly
ranked as one of the most proactive
countries in responding to, and combatting,
modern slavery. 2
Two matters should be immediately noted
from these observations. First, the report
describes Australia as being among the
group of countries that has the “lowest
prevalence” of modern slavery, not that
modern slavery does not exist in Australia.
Second, the report describes Australia as
being one of the countries “taking the
most steps to respond to modern slavery”. 3
This cannot, and should not, be taken as a
suggestion that Australia is doing enough
to ensure that products sold in Australia by
Australian businesses do not involve the
use of slavery.
RANA PLAZA BUILDING COLLAPSE
The potential for Australian businesses
to be implicated in modern slavery
34 THE BULLETIN September 2017
increases as Australian business operations
increasingly reach abroad. That potential
is epitomised in the 2013 collapse of
the nine-storey Rana Plaza building in
Bangladesh. More than 1100 garment
workers were killed. This occurred
after thousands of workers had earlier
protested about the state of the building
(complaining about visible cracks in the
pillars). Nonetheless, the workers had been
forced to commence their shifts on the
day in question. 4 The incident caught the
attention of Australian media, unions, and
consumers, and served as a wake-up call
for the many Australian businesses that
sourced garments from Bangladesh. 5
The Bangladeshi prosecuting authorities
subsequently charged a total of 41 persons
for offences relating to the collapse of
the building. Those charged included the
owner of the building, proprietors of
businesses based in the building, engineers
who allegedly confirmed that the building
met safety requirements, and government
officials, including the local Mayor, and a
town councillor. 6 The charges ranged
from failures to adhere to the applicable
building regulations to “culpable
homicide”. 7 The prosecuting authorities
noted that “[a]ll 41 of those charged have
a collective responsibility for the tragedy”. 8
But what of the foreign businesses that
were to be the ultimate re-sellers of the
garments; were they simply naïve about
the costs that attach to cheaply sourced
products? Or were they wilfully blind to
such exploitative labour practices? Where
does responsibility start and end in the
supply chain?
SLAVERY IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS
SUPPLY CHAINS
While not directly implicated in the
collapse of the Rana Plaza building, these
questions remain relevant to Australia, as
Australian businesses continue to source
their products from abroad. Unfortunately,
even post the Rana Plaza building collapse,
The Rana Plaza Collapse in Bangladesh
(CC BY-SA 2.0) by rijans on Flickr
(https://www.flickr.com/people/rijans/)
that potential has been realised. One
Australian business was accused of having
“sold millions of dollars’ worth of clothes
made in North Korea, where factory
workers endure slave-like conditions”. 9
Australian businesses placed in other
industries have similarly been accused
of selling slavery produced goods from
abroad. 10
These concerning examples are
compounded by recent studies into
supply chain management by Australian
businesses. In one study, Australian
businesses engaged in the electronics
industry were assessed on the strength of
the labour rights management systems that
they had adopted to mitigate the risk of
forced labour, child labour and exploitation
in their supply chain. The report found that
a number of Australian businesses “were
amongst the worst performers”. 11 A similar
study assessed the efforts of Australian
fashion businesses to protect workers in
their supply chain from labour exploitation
and “the egregious practice of modern
slavery”. The report concluded that “91%
of companies [assessed] still don’t know
where all their cotton comes from, and
75% don’t know the source of all their
fabrics and inputs”.’ 12
The concerns and questions posed do
not remain limited to Australian businesses
that source their goods from abroad.
Unfortunately, slavery has been found to
exist at home. Some of the fresh food