What Is Forced Labour Modern Slavery And Human Trafficking

Forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking are named together so often that they get treated as one thing. They are not the same size. Modern slavery is the umbrella term Australian law uses, human trafficking and forced labour are distinct criminal offences under separate Divisions of the Criminal Code, and forced labour is one practice sitting inside the umbrella.

The distinction has practical consequences. A supplier questionnaire that asks only about forced labour invites an honest no from a supplier whose actual risk is debt bondage or deceptive recruitment. A policy that uses the three terms interchangeably will not tell a manager which one they are looking at or who to contact. Anti-Slavery Australia, the specialist legal centre at UTS, describes modern slavery as an umbrella covering human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices, and that hierarchy is the one to follow when you draft.

Getting the language right also changes where a person is sent. Not every response runs through law enforcement. Anti-Slavery Australia has provided free and confidential legal and migration advice since 2003 to people who have experienced or are at risk of modern slavery, in every state and territory, and runs My Blue Sky, the national service for forced marriage.

Practical steps for an Australian organisation:

• write the definitions once and hold them where people can find them, in your policy documents and your resource library
• publish the referral contacts through staff announcements so nobody has to guess

This is general information rather than legal advice, and definitions differ between the Criminal Code, the Modern Slavery Act and international instruments, so check which one governs the document you are writing. Sentrient’s modern slavery course and the wider compliance training courses cover the terms in workplace language.