The tracker · Australia
Mandatory modern slavery statements with prescribed content, awaiting the penalties its own review recommended.
Anti-Slavery Commissioner operational; penalties and due diligence duty from the statutory review still pending.
In plain language
The Australian act requires covered entities to publish annual modern slavery statements addressing seven mandatory criteria, filed on a public register. Unlike the UK regime the content is prescribed, but like the UK regime there are currently no financial penalties for poor or absent reporting.
The 2023 statutory review recommended penalties, a due diligence duty and lower thresholds. The Anti-Slavery Commissioner role was created and filled, while the harder-edged recommendations await legislation, making Australia the clearest live test of whether disclosure regimes graduate into due diligence regimes.
Obligations
Statements must cover structure, operations, risks, actions, effectiveness assessment, consultation and any other relevant information.
Statements require principal governing body approval and filing on the public register within six months of year end.
Timeline
Act commenced.
Statutory review recommended penalties, a due diligence duty and lower thresholds.
Commonwealth Anti-Slavery Commissioner established.
Government response to the review partially implemented; penalties bill pending.
Changelog
Commissioner priorities and pending reform items updated.
Exposed export value at full application, across the ten tracked origins · Figures come from UN Comtrade. For each country we use what its buyer markets reported importing, rather than what the country itself reported exporting, because several tracked countries report to Comtrade late or not at all. Every share is measured against that country's exports to the nine regulated markets this index tracks, not against its total exports to the world, because no reliable world total exists for countries that under-report. European Union figures add up all twenty seven member states. The European product breakdown by chapter is estimated from the four largest importers, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy, and scaled up to the full twenty seven member total, so it captures which products dominate without understating any single one. · methodology