In June 2018, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 was passed by the Parliament after being introduced as a private member's Bill. The Act followed the report of the Select Committee on Human Trafficking in New South Wales and a parliamentary working group on modern slavery.

The process for addressing the deficiencies of the Act has been longstanding and transparent. The Government provided a draft exposure bill, the Modern Slavery Amendment Bill 2019, to the Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues as part of its inquiry into the Modern Slavery Act 2018. The committee consulted with a range of stakeholders, invited submissions from public members, and carefully considered the Government's draft exposure bill. The committee subsequently released report No. 56, titled Modern Slavery Act 2018 and Associated Matters, in March 2020, which made 17 recommendations.

The Bill will commence the Act on 1 January 2022, ensure the intended operation of specific provisions in the Act are effective, improve the operation of the Act, enhance protections for the Anti‑slavery Commissioner, reduce the regulatory burden on businesses in New South Wales, reduce legal risks posed by the Act and ensure that victims of modern slavery can receive recognition payments.

The object of this Bill is to make miscellaneous amendments to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (the Principal Act) to combat modern slavery and provide assistance and support for victims of modern slavery. In particular, the Bill makes further provisions to deal with the following:

• the date of commencement of the Principal Act,
• the functions of the Anti-slavery Commissioner,
• co-operation between the Anti-slavery Commissioner and other agencies, including the
• Commissioner of Police,
• reports by the Anti-slavery Commissioner,
• the repeal of provisions requiring commercial organisations to prepare modern slavery
• statements about steps taken to ensure goods and services are not products of supply chains
• in which modern slavery is taking place,
• the repeal of provisions enabling courts to make certain post-conviction orders relating to
• modern slavery offences,
• the clarification of an uncommenced offence in the Crimes Act 1900 dealing with child
• forced marriage,
• the provision of recognition payments under the Victims Rights and Support Act 2013 to
• certain victims of acts of modern slavery,
• other matters of a law revision, machinery or savings and transitional natureThe joint parliamentary committee and the Anti‑slavery Commissioner will guide future policy development in this area, building on the bedrock established by the Act.

In addition, the Bill makes amendments to reduce the regulatory burden on New South Wales businesses by repealing the provisions in the Act relating to the supply chains of non-government organisations. The Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018 commenced on 1 January 2019, following the passage of the New South Wales Act. The Commonwealth Act requires entities based or operating in Australia with annual consolidated revenue of at least $100 million to report each financial year on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The reporting entity must give a modern slavery statement within six months after the end of the financial year, providing information including the structure, operations and supply chains of the reporting entity; the risks of modern slavery practices in the operations and supply chains of the reporting entity; and actions taken by the reporting entity, including due diligence and remediation processes, in response to those risks.

These reports are published and publicly available for viewing on the Australian Government's Modern Slavery register. The Commonwealth Minister may name and shame entities on the register that fail to comply with reporting obligations under the Commonwealth Act. The Commonwealth and New South Wales reporting schemes must provide a clear and consistent regulatory framework for Australian businesses. This Bill proposes to repeal section 24 of the New South Wales Act, which is the section that provides for the regulation of non-government organisations' supply chains, to remove the regulatory burden on the New South Wales private sector and businesses of complying with two schemes. Consequential amendments to other sections are also proposed.

Commercial organisations in New South Wales with a consolidated revenue of at least $100 million in a financial year will be subject to the Commonwealth's scheme. Commercial organisations in New South Wales with a total annual turnover of $50 million or more, but less than $100 million, will no longer be required to report but voluntarily report under the Commonwealth's scheme. The Anti-slavery Commissioner will take an active role in advocating for commercial organisations in New South Wales with an annual turnover between $50 million and $100 million to report voluntarily under the Commonwealth's scheme. The New South Wales Anti-slavery Commissioner will continue to maintain a public register identifying any government agency failing to comply with directions of the NSW Procurement Board concerning procurement of goods and services that are the product of modern slavery. Item [29] will enable the making of regulations requiring a government agency to provide information to the commissioner to be included on the register. It will provide for the manner and form of information that is to be provided to the commissioner.