The tracker · Australia
Mandatory modern slavery statements with prescribed content, awaiting the penalties its own review recommended.
Consultation on the failure to prevent offence ran from 21 August to 25 September 2026, raising absolute liability and deferred prosecution agreements.
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.
On 16 July 2026 the government announced that it would create a criminal offence for companies with annual consolidated revenue above A$100 million that fail to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains, with a defence for companies that took reasonable steps. Civil penalties for reporting failures would follow alongside it. The Attorney-General's Department published its consultation paper on 21 August 2026, and the consultation closed on 25 September. The paper asks whether the offence should rest on absolute liability, so that a company could be liable without knowledge or intent, subject to the reasonable steps defence. It also raises deferred prosecution agreements and routes for survivors to seek civil remedies. No bill has yet been introduced.
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.
Government announced a criminal failure to prevent offence for companies above A$100 million in revenue, with a reasonable steps defence, plus civil penalties for reporting breaches; consultation to follow.
Attorney-General's Department consulted on the failure to prevent offence, with absolute liability, deferred prosecution agreements and civil remedies for survivors among the options.
Changelog
Added the August and September 2026 consultation, including the absolute liability option.
Added the July 2026 announcement of a failure to prevent offence and civil penalties.
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
Sources