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On 16 July 2026, the Australian Government has announced proposed reforms to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) that include a new “failure to prevent” offence. This is the most significant change to Australia’s modern slavery framework since the Act commenced.
The key information announced included:
- Better support for companies to identify and address risk in global supply chains
- New criminal offence for failing to prevent modern slavery
- Defence where a company demonstrates it took 'reasonable steps'
- Consultation on enforcement, including Deferred Prosecution Agreements
- Civil penalties for non-compliance and associated enforcement powers.
Sessions unpacking the proposed offence are on our events and training page, or speak with our modern slavery advisory team.
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