On 6 August 2019, the NSW Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues announced an inquiry into the NSW Modern Slavery Act 2018, the Modern Slavery Amendment Bill 2019 and the draft Modern Slavery Regulation 2019.
The Act and associated matters inquiry represents an opportunity for stakeholders to comment on how the NSW Government can effectively combat modern slavery. In parallel, the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet has invited stakeholders to provide feedback into the technical design of the supply chain reporting scheme as outlined in the draft Modern Slavery Regulation, which sets out how commercial organisations are to comply with new reporting requirements.
On 3 September 2019, the Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia (BCSD Australia) - in collaboration with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) and Zoic Environmental - convened a one-hour webinar to share insights on both of these requests for feedback on the Draft Regulation and on the NSW Government inquiry, and the broader business and human rights landscape.
The webinar provided an outline of both opportunities as well as key dates of submissions and how to unpack the Draft Regulation and the Modern Slavery Amendment Bill.
Specifically it explored:
Key aspects and differences between the respect Modern Slavery Acts: NSW and Commonwealth.
The business case: how are businesses preparing for the current legislation and key concerns from the business community.
Many thanks to Debbie Kandauw from Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and Carsten Primdal from Zoic for sharing their insights.