Anti-slavery Commissioner issues landmark Framework to address Modern Slavery Risks

Following more than a year of work with representatives from NSW Government, local councils and other public entities, NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner, Dr James Cockayne, has published a landmark framework to assist more than  400 public entities meet their modern slavery due diligence and reporting obligations under NSW law. The Framework came into effect on 1 January 2024 and will affect more than $42 billion of public spending in New South Wales each year. 

The development of this Shared Implementation Framework was endorsed by the NSW Procurement Leadership Group in October 2022. It was developed during the course of 2023 through consultations with a Working Group comprised of over 20 entities and over 70 different individuals. The Framework aligns with Australia's National Action Plan to Combat Modern Slavery 2020-2025, and Australia's international human rights commitments. 

The centrepiece of the Shared Implementation Framework is the Commissioner's Guidance on Reasonable Steps to Manage Modern Slavery Risks in Operations and Supply Chains (GRS). The GRS provides practical steps that public entities can take to prevent, identify, mitigate, address and remediate modern slavery risks and harms in operations and supply-chains. 

The Framework also includes practical tools for procurement professionals to use in implementing the GRS. These include: 

• the Inherent Risk Identification Tool: for identifying the level of modern slavery risk associated with certain products, at a global level. 
• GRS Model Tender Clauses and GRS Model Contract Clauses: designed to ensure that buyers can conduct sufficient due diligence on suppliers and manage modern slavery risk over the contract term. The Commissioner has developed two different versions of this clause: one for contracts with heightened due diligence requirements, and one for lower-risk contracts where a more streamlined approach to due diligence can be used.

The Framework also includes guidance to help entities meet their annual reporting obligations: see GRS Resource: Instructions for Annual Reporting. The Commissioner will monitor this reporting and provide training and support to help covered entities improve their ability to identify and address modern slavery risks along their supply-chains and in their operations. Independently, the NSW Auditor-General also has the right to conduct independent modern slavery audits of certain NSW government agencies at any time. 

A public register, identifying covered entities that fail to meet their modern slavery obligations, will be published in 2024.

Quote from Anti-slavery Commissioner, Dr James Cockayne:

"I thank the many individuals and entities across the public and private sectors that have worked together to develop this ground-breaking framework to reduce modern slavery risks in NSW public supply chains."  

"This practical Guidance is the next step in the implementation of the world-leading legislation passed in NSW to address modern slavery in 2018 and 2021. As NSW government, councils and universities work together to implement this guidance in the years ahead, they will have a significant impact on modern slavery risks in the supply-chains they purchase from. This will reduce modern slavery risks here in NSW, making our community safer and our economy more sustainable."

For more information on the Guidance visit the website here or contact GRS@dcj.nsw.gov.au