The Modern Slavery Statement for Ego for the Financial Year 2023 was approved by the Ego Board on 30 November. This is the fourth statement that Ego has submitted, in line with the reporting requirements of the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018.
The statement has now been published on the Modern Slavery Register of the Attorney-General’s Department. Click here to view it.
What is Modern Slavery?
Modern slavery describes situations where offenders use coercion, threats or deception to exploit victims and undermine their freedom. It is an umbrella term used to encompass a number of exploitative practices including forced labour, slavery, servitude, debt bondage, human trafficking, deceptive recruiting for labour services, the worst forms of child labour and forced marriage.
The Global Slavery Index (GSI) estimates that up to 41,000 people are living in conditions of modern slavery in Australia...in many of the industries at highest risk, including agriculture, construction, cleaning, manufacturing and hospitality.
Review of the Modern Slavery Act
In 2022 – 2023, there was a formal independent review of the Modern Slavery Act, after its first three years of operation. There was broad consultation with reporting entities, such as Ego. The final report was tabled in Parliament in May 2023 and has a number of recommendations, including:
- Introduction of a requirement that companies have a modern slavery due diligence system in place
- Lowering the reporting threshold to AUD 50 million
- Imposing penalties for non-compliance
- Amending the mandatory reporting criteria to include new requirements, such as reporting on modern slavery incidents or risks identified during the reporting year, grievance and complaint mechanisms available to staff members and others, and demonstrating internal and external consultation undertaken on modern slavery risk management
None of these recommendations has yet become law, and we will monitor the situation for further developments. In the meantime, we continue our efforts to combat Modern Slavery within our operations and supply chains.
Ego’s Modern Slavery Initiatives
Ego has focused strongly on our due diligence work over the last five years, and we will continue to do so. In 2022 – 2023, the Modern Slavery Committee decided that a key pillar would be to enhance our staff training and awareness program via a more formal and specific Modern Slavery training package. This training was targeted at key staff who interact with suppliers and who need to have a strong understanding and awareness of Modern Slavery – this included board members and executives, senior managers as well as staff in supply, procurement, finance, sales, logistics and packaging / sustainability – both domestic and international. In all, 77 participants completed this training. The training module itself was prepared by, Safetrac, Ego’s on-line legal compliance training provider.
Ego’s Modern Slavery KPIs
Ego has established a number of KPIs around Modern Slavery, and we are tracking well against these:
- Survey all suppliers with an annual spend of >$100K AUD or as otherwise identified
- Ensure appropriate follow up with suppliers to ensure response is received, or identify alternate means to determine risk of Modern Slavery with each
- Prepare and submit a Modern Slavery Statement each financial year which conforms to the published guidelines
- Conduct training and awareness among Ego employees
- Actively participate in the UN Global Compact Network Australia