Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth)

The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) is the Commonwealth reporting law that requires entities with annual consolidated revenue of at least A$100 million to publish an annual modern slavery statement. The “(Cth)” in the citation is doing real work, because New South Wales has its own Modern Slavery Act 2018 and the United Kingdom has a Modern Slavery Act 2015.

That matters most when you write the Act into your own documents. A supplier contract clause, a procurement questionnaire, a board paper or a policy that refers only to “the Modern Slavery Act” is ambiguous for any organisation operating in NSW or reporting to a UK parent. Australian legal citation puts the jurisdiction in brackets after the year for exactly this reason.

Places the citation tends to appear:

• modern slavery clauses in supplier and labour hire contracts
• workplace policies that commit the organisation to a position
• codes of conduct extended to contractors and suppliers
• the annual statement itself, which the principal governing body approves

The Attorney-General’s Department publishes Guidance for Reporting Entities (PDF), the official plain language guide to preparing a statement. Requirements change over time, so treat this as general information rather than legal advice and confirm the current position before relying on it.

Sentrient’s modern slavery course covers the obligation for staff, and sits within the wider compliance training courses library.