Australia’s government extended, by three months, deadlines for the submission of statements by entities subject to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (the Act). Organizations slated to submit their statement by 30 Sep 2020 (for the reporting year 1 Apr 2019 to 31 Mar 2020) have a revised deadline of 31 Dec 2020, and organizations due to report by 30 Dec 2020 (for the reporting period 1 Jul 2019 to 30 Jun 2020) must report by 31 Mar 2021. The six-month deadline is unchanged for reporting periods after June 2020.

Effective 1 Jan 2019, the Act applies to a wide range of commercial and not-for-profit entities, including individuals, partnerships, associations, companies, trusts, superannuation funds and other types of investment organizations. It covers an estimated 3,000 domestic and foreign entities that conduct business in Australia and have an annual consolidated revenue exceeding A$100 million. These entities must provide an annual statement disclosing how their operations and supply chain risks contribute to modern slavery, explaining actions taken to address the risks, and assessing the effectiveness of those actions. Government guidance on the contents of the annual disclosure, and submission and publication of the statements, was published on 24 Sep 2019.

Related resources

Non-Mercer resources

• Announcement (Australian Government, 28 Apr 2020)
• Guidance for reporting entities (Australian Department of Home Affairs, 24 Sep 2019)
• Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Australian Federal Register of Legislation, 10 Sep 2018)

Mercer Law & Policy resources

• Australian guidance explains modern slavery disclosures (21 Oct 2019)