I had the opportunity to speak with Radio New Zealand’s Ingrid Hipkiss on the Morning Report and 6PR Perth’s Gary Adshead about the appointment of Australia’s first Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Chris Evans. Australia has been a leader in modern slavery legislation since 2018, though there’s now an urgent need to update and enhance our laws to match global developments, especially in Europe. During these conversations, I discussed how the new commissioner will face the complex task of balancing civil society’s call for stronger protections with the business sector’s concerns about regulatory burden. There is a balance to strike, but meaningful changes are essential to ensure that Australia’s Modern Slavery Act keeps pace with the evolving standards worldwide.
Tag Archives: Martijn Boersma
Australia’s Right to Disconnect – 2SER
On Monday, workers throughout Australia can refuse to respond, read or monitor work messages from their boss. The right to disconnect looks to have most workplaces with more robust and frank conversations at the workplace, with Fair Work Ombudsman and a booth saying that any dispute should be first discussed and sought to be resolved at the workplace level. But how will this be enforced? Jhames Montemayor has this report.
Public Procurement and Social Impact in New South Wales
Associate Professor Chris F. Wright and I presented evidence at the “Inquiry into the Procurement Practices of Government Agencies in New South Wales and its Impact on the Social Development of the People of New South Wales”.
Public procurement represents a substantial portion of the economy and provides a unique opportunity to drive significant social and economic benefits. The power of public procurement can – and indeed should be – harnessed to promote decent work, local employment, and sustainable development.
Our submission makes several key recommendations aimed at enhancing the social and economic impact of government procurement:
➡ Establish Centralised Procurement Oversight: We propose the creation of a centralised authority dedicated to overseeing procurement across all government departments and agencies.
➡ Lower Threshold for Contract Disclosure: To enhance transparency and public trust, we recommend lowering the disclosure threshold for government contracts from $150,000 to $10,000, similar to the Commonwealth level.
➡ Prioritise Local Suppliers: We suggest the implementation of a local procurement policy which prioritizes local suppliers, fostering regional economic development.
➡ Social Procurement Clauses: Introducing social procurement clauses to help ensure that businesses providing secure, well-compensated jobs are eligible for government contracts.
➡ Supplier Debarment: To maintain high ethical standards, we recommend the introduction of a supplier debarment regime, to exclude suppliers found guilty of dishonest, unfair, or illegal conduct from government contracts.
Other Key Takeaways From the Hearing:
- Current procurement oversight ineffective due to lack of expertise and transparency issues, enforcement of anti-slavery policies in supply chains inadequate due to lack of follow-up and operationalisation. Expertise and capability building needed for enforcing social dimensions of contracts.
- Strengthening worker representation in procurement ensures fair labour practices. Worker representation mechanisms can improve employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity, with positive impacts on procurement outcomes.
- Government procurement can play a crucial role in creating an effective skills ecosystem. In Switzerland, procurement policies that give preferential treatment to firms with training apprentices increase the number of firms offering training without compromising quality.
- Unions can play a positive role, as evidenced by studies showing improved training quantity and quality in countries with strong union presence. Unions have positive impact on productivity, worker wellbeing, and social benefits.
- Value for money in NSW procurement often interpreted as price alone, despite social and economic benefits being important factors.
- New South Wales government should require contractors to demonstrate compliance with work health and safety regimes.
Revealed: Weak Remedy Under the Australian Modern Slavery Act
Effective remedy is a key element of human rights protection. The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) stress the importance of both state and business entities providing access to effective remedies. Despite this, the effectiveness of remedial mechanisms varies, with remediation emerging as a shortfall in Australia’s efforts to meet international legal obligations and business standards. This research delves into the practical challenges and responses to remediation, leveraging insights from a detailed study on the effectiveness of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (MSA) in Australia. It draws on insights from a comprehensive, multi-year collaborative study to explore how businesses interpret and respond to the remedial requirements outlined in the MSA.
It tackles three pivotal inquiries concerning the provision of remedies:
- Whether companies are actively facilitating remediation or merely reporting such actions;
- The types of remedies most commonly reported; and
- The extent to which key stakeholders are involved in developing these remedies.
The findings, published in a Special Issue of the Journal of Modern Slavery, on “Access to Remedy for Survivors of All Forms of Slavery, Trafficking and Forced Labour” suggest that the Modern Slavery Act falls short in promoting effective remediation processes. It highlights a lack of significant engagement by businesses in remediation efforts under the MSA, indicating that the Act may not be effectively facilitating remediation processes.
Why Australia Needs an Anti-Slavery Commissioner
Last week, a 47-year-old Queensland man was charged with 46 offences, including torturing and enslaving deckhands on his fishing boats.
The accused allegedly intimidated and attacked his employees, and withheld food and water. He will appear in court next month.
Australia is estimated to have 41,000 people trapped in modern slavery. People can be subjected to modern slavery through coercion, deception and violence. This includes acts such as grooming, wage theft and restriction of movement.
In Australian and international law slavery is defined as:
the condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.
Modern slavery is distinct from historical slavery in that people are no longer legally owned but are instead subjected to illegal control.
Continue reading Why Australia Needs an Anti-Slavery Commissioner
New Books Network Podcast on “Addressing Modern Slavery”
Before you left your house this morning, chances are that you used products and consumed goods that were produced by modern slavery. From the coffee you drink, to the clothes and shoes that you wear, to the phone that you use, modern slavery is a pervasive global problem that encroaches into the daily lives of all of us.
In Addressing Modern Slavery, Professor Justine Nolan and Associate Professor Martijn Boersma provide a comprehensive and accessible account of the role of businesses, governments and consumers in the proliferation of modern slavery. They address both the gaps in protection of workers in the global supply chain, and what more can be done to protect the dignity and human rights who are denied the chance to earn a decent living. In today’s conversation, we spoke about the emergence of corporate social conscience, the work that laws can do, the role that civil society can play, and a need for better enforcement mechanisms which will adequately address modern slavery. This is a really important book about a global phenomenon that is unsustainable. A must read for businesses, governments and consumers.
Professor Justine Nolan is the Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute and a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW Sydney. Her research focuses on the intersection of business and human rights, in particular, supply chain responsibility for human rights and modern slavery.
Dr. Martijn Boersma is an Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame Australia and an Adjunct Fellow at the University of Technology Business School. His research focuses on the intersection of business and society, and includes areas such as labour standards in supply chains; corporate governance and social responsibility; gender diversity in corporate leadership; modern slavery; and employment and industrial relations.
Modern Slavery Good Practice Toolkit
The final instalment of a research series jointly conducted by nine academic and civil society organisations has been made publicly available. The publication, known as the Good Practice Toolkit, offers businesses crucial insights into human rights due diligence and ways to amplify their compliance with Australia’s Modern Slavery Act (MSA).
Drawing upon data collected over several years, the toolkit examines corporate responses to the MSA and their engagement in human rights due diligence. It zeroes in on two notably weak facets of business practice: stakeholder engagement and supplier relations.
The Toolkit’s main recommendations are:
- Prioritise suppliers with demonstrated respect for human rights.
- Work in partnership with suppliers in designing and communicating expectations.
- Conduct meaningful and sustained engagement with workers and their representatives.
- Engage with relevant stakeholders in the design of policies.
- Use effective grievance mechanisms as an engagement tool.
The Australian Human Rights Institute (UNSW Sydney), Business and Human Rights Centre (RMIT), the University of Melbourne, the University of Notre Dame Australia, the University of Western Australia and Willamette University, in association with the Human Rights Law Centre, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and Baptist World Aid, conducted this research. It follows earlier reports, ‘Australia’s Modern Slavery Act: Is It Fit For Purpose?’, ‘Broken Promises’ , and ‘Paper Promises’ .
Summarised: Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018
Addressing modern slavery requires more than criminalising the illegal control of or mistreatment of individuals. It necessitates a comprehensive response to the various forms of modern slavery, including human trafficking, servitude, worker exploitation, child labour, forced marriage, debt bondage, and deceptive recruitment.
Australia has recognised this challenge and has implemented a range of laws, programs, networks, and support services to tackle it head-on. One key component of Australia’s response is the Modern Slavery Act 2018, which focuses on transparency reporting. This legislation mandates large businesses and entities operating in Australia to submit an annual statement to the government, outlining the actions they are taking to address modern slavery risks within their domestic and global operations and supply chains.
To promote transparency and accountability, these statements are made available to the public through the Modern Slavery Statements Register. As of early 2023, the Register has published over 7,000 statements from nearly 8,000 entities headquartered in more than 50 countries. This government-run register is the first of its kind internationally and has already garnered significant attention.
In accordance with the Modern Slavery Act, a review was initiated three years after its commencement, starting on March 31, 2022. The review aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Act in combating modern slavery and explore potential improvements to its framework and administration. It also sought to evaluate whether the law was being taken seriously and effectively implemented. Below you can find a summary of the review and recommendations, as well as the full list of recommendations made.
Continue reading Summarised: Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018
Why a degree in modern slavery is a valuable addition to your CV
Modern slavery may seem a distant issue in Australia, but a new course will teach graduates why an understanding of it is increasingly important in every business
It might be easy to imagine, especially in Australia, that slavery is a thing of the past. But an estimated 15,000 people were living in conditions of modern slavery here in 2016, through forced marriage and labour, sexual exploitation, debt bondage and human trafficking – exploitation that disproportionately affects women, children, asylum seekers and migrants. Globally, in that same year, 40.3 million victims were being abused.
Martijn Boersma is an associate professor of human trafficking and modern slavery at the University of Notre Dame Australia, where a new course aims to provide the skills and knowledge that will enable people to work proactively to put an end to the exploitation of vulnerable people.
Continue reading Why a degree in modern slavery is a valuable addition to your CV
The Myth of the Social License to Operate
Over the last two decades many of the world’s largest companies have been involved in scandals, misconduct and dubious ethics. Rather than relying on interventions by public authorities, the dominant governing rationality is informed by the belief that the market is able to balance social, environmental, and financial interests. However, the vast majority of companies that have been involved in ethical transgressions have survived – and have even thrived. Potential damage to the reputation of companies, or threats to their ‘social license to operate’, seems to have had a limited effect. There is therefore reason to believe that market forces are not adequate by themselves to correct corporate misbehaviour.
This chapter from the upcoming ‘Research Handbook on the Sociology of Organizations’ explores the reliance on market forces to correct corporate actions that are not aligned with the common good. It examines to what extent legitimacy theory adequately explains the dynamics around organizational legitimacy, and it proposes an expansion of legitimacy theory to increase its explanatory power: the use of social dominance theory and legitimizing myths expands (organizational) legitimacy as a theoretical construct. In explaining why antagonistic stakeholders continue to rely on market-based approaches, this research suggests that they have either bought into the hierarchy-enhancing myths, or they have not yet developed compelling hierarchy-attenuating myths to challenge the status quo. The chapter concludes with the suggestion that the ‘social license to operate’ and ‘corporate purpose’ are legitimizing myths that uphold the idea that the market can balance social, environmental, and financial interests.