The three-year statutory review of the Commonwealth Act led by Professor John McMillan AO was tabled in Parliament on. On 1 January 2019, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) ( Commonwealth Act) commenced, heralding a new statutory modern slavery reporting requirement for larger companies operating in Australia. Modern slavery therefore encompasses slavery, servitude, the worst forms of child labour, forced labour, human trafficking, debt bondage, slavery like practices, forced marriage and deceptive recruiting for labour or services. The Australian regime defines modern slavery to incorporate conduct that would constitute an offence under existing human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like offence provisions set out in Divisions 270 and 271 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.
Note: At its broadest, the term 'modern slavery' refers to any situations of exploitation where a person cannot refuse or leave work because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception.
