This is AMSA’s third annual Modern slavery Statement, covering the period 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022.

In the spirit of continuous improvement, it reflects feedback on our previous Statements from the Modern Slavey Business Engagement Section, Australian Border Force.

The Australian Government estimates that there are at least 1500 modern slavery victims in Australia. The United Nations estimates that at least 40 million people around the globe are forced into modern-day slavery. Those most at risk include women and children who may have little or no capacity to protect themselves. Australia has agreed with the United Nations to attempt to abolish modern slavery by 2030.

The term modern slavery is used to describe situations where coercion, threats or deception are used to exploit victims and undermine or deprive them of their freedom.

Serious exploitation

There are eight types of serious exploitation which combined make up the term modern slavery:

1. Trafficking in persons – the recruitment, harbouring and movement of a person for exploitation through modern slavery
2. Slavery - situations where the offender exercises powers of ownership over the victim including the power to make a person an object of purchase and use their labour in an unrestricted way
3. Servitude – situations where the victim’s personal freedom is significantly restricted, and they are not free to stop working of leave their place of work
4. Forced marriage – situations where coercion, threats or deception are used to make a victim marry or where the victim does not understand or is incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony
5. Forced labour - situations where the victim is either not free to stop work or not free to leave their place of work
6. Debt bondage – situations where the victim’s services are pledged as a security for a debt and the debt is manifestly excessive of the victim’s services, are not applied to liquidate the debt and/or the length and nature of the services are not limited and defined.
7. Deceptive recruiting for labour or services - situations where the victim is deceived about whether they will be exploited through a type of modern service
8. Serious exploitation of children and child labour – situations including enslavement, sexual exploitation, used to produce or traffic drugs, and exposure to dangerous work. Freedom from slavery is a fundamental human right. Under the Australian Government endorsed United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles) entities have a responsibility to respect human rights in their operations and supply chains. This responsibility includes taking action to prevent, mitigate and, where possible, remedy modern slavery in your entity’s operations and supply chains.

Other illegal and harmful practices may be present within the supply chain but are not considered modern slavery. Practices like substandard working conditions or underpayment of workers may be indicators of more serious exploitation, corruption and practices which impact on human rights.

The Australian Government’s Modern Slavery Act 2018 (the Act) came into force on 1 January 2019 and establishes a mandatory reporting regime for entities

• with consolidated revenue of at least A $100 million in the reporting period and
• who are either an Australian entity or a foreign entity carrying on business in Australia.

The Act requires reporting of an Annual Modern slavery Statement, (the Statement). The Statement must identify and address the risks of modern slavery in AMSA’s global and domestic operations and supply chains, and actions taken to address those risks.

There are seven mandatory criteria that AMSA is required to address in the Statement:

1. Identify the reporting entity
2. Describe the reporting entity’s structure, operations, and supply chains
3. Describe the risks of modern slavery practices in the operations and supply chains of the reporting entity and any entities it owns or controls
4. Describe the actions taken by the reporting entity and any entities it owns or controls to assess and address these risks, including due diligence and remediation processes
5. Describe how the reporting entity assesses the effectiveness of these actions
6. Describe the process of consultation with any entities the reporting entity owns or controls (a joint statement must also describe consultation with the entity giving the statement), and
7. Provide any other relevant information.

This Statement covers the 2021-22 Australian financial year (reporting period). Statements from entities are to be published before 31 December 2022.

Reporting is to the Department of Home Affairs, Australian Border Force, Modern Slavery Business Engagement unit. Entities who fail to comply with the Act will be publicly named and may be required to undertake remedial activities to ensure future compliance.

The Australian Government expects entities to use a continuous improvement approach in implementing the requirements and to see demonstrable improvements in the quality of information and the understanding of modern slavery over time.