Modern Slavery Co-Lab

Our fifth colab session covered engagement with suppliers, visibility through supply chains, and engagement with suppliers with an examination of the nine areas of supply chain engagement, indicators of vulnerability, and pathways to addressing modern slavery risks with suppliers.

The discussion included:

• Supply chain engagement around human rights and modern slavery
• Understanding supplier awareness and training
• Educational resources around human rights and modern slavery for your colleagues and suppliers
• Communicating the indicators of vulnerability to your suppliers
• The complexities of modern supply chains
• Measuring and ensuring continuous improvement
• Guest speaker: Dr Medo Pournader,  Senior Lecturer and Program Director of Master of Supply Chain Management with the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne
  
• Pathways to addressing modern slavery risks
• Next steps for the AusLSA Modern Slavery Collaboration

Review the presentation HERE

Our Guest speaker: Dr Medo Pournader has offered to discuss her presntation or program areas further with any interesed AusLSA members. T: +61 3 9035 6715 M: +61 437 011 234 E: medo.pournader@unimelb.edu.au

Session Four of the Modern Slavery Co-Lab examined Remediation and the processes should firms have in place and the issues they should consider to ensure that they can effectively remediate any instances of modern slavery they identify in their supply chain.

Review the presentation provided and resource links HERE 

Program Summary 

1. What is modern slavery remediation, and what may be involved in the process of remediation?
2. Remedy is the third pillar of the UN Framework 'Protect, Respect and Remedy'
3. How to protect rights-holders, survivors and victims during the remediation process
4. What might the remedies around exploitation, human rights abuses and modern slavery look like? Rights-based, Empathetic, Multiple forms, Empowering, Dialogue-based, (Starts with) You, 
5. How do we put effective modern slavery remediation into practice.
6. Examples of good modern slavery remediation
7. Guest Speaker Professor Justine Nolan, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute.

If you want to learn more about the AusLSA Modern Slavery Co-Labs please contact Richard@legalsectoralliance.com.au 

The last Modern Slavery Colab was held on 13 July 2023

AusLSA Modern Slavery Co-Lab Session Three - Grievance Mechanisms and 'the Worker Voice"

1. Review the Agenda for MS CoLab Three
2. Review the main  Presentation from MS Co-Lab Session Three
3. Review the Guest Presenter Jenny Stranger's Presentation 

The Third Co-Lab Covered 

1. What are grievance mechanisms, and how can 'the worker voice' work here in Australia and internationally for staff and suppliers?

2. What are the main types and forms of human rights grievances mechanisms?

3. Who uses human rights grievance mechanisms, and what are the benefits for businesses, and benefits for workers

4. Examining the key criteria for effective grievance mechanisms:

5. Key challenges for implementing effective grievance mechanisms

6. How do human rights grievance mechanisms work in practice

Guest Speaker - Jenny Stanger, Executive Manager at the Australian Catholic Anti-slavery Network (ACAN),

• Grievance Mechanisms in practice - International examples
• Examples of modern slavery in supply chains, and how the people being exploited reached out
• What good grievance mechanisms should look like for our staff and our suppliers
• How businesses (and Australian law firms in particular) can do better, and what they should do differently
• Questions from around the group

Guest Speaker. - Professor Jennifer Burn, Director of Anti-Slavery Australia
The work of Anti-Slavery Australia, and how people in Australia being exploited have reached out

• Grievance Mechanisms in practice - Australian examples
• Current cases being handled in Australia and the common factors and risks
• What good Australian grievance mechanisms should look like for both staff and our suppliers
• How businesses (and Australian law firms in particular) can do better, and what they should do differently
• Questions from around the group

7. How the legal sector can gain further insights into effective grievance mechanisms and their use - resources available

8. Priority actions and next steps

If you want to learn more about the AusLSA Modern Slavery Co-Labs please contact Richard@legalsectoralliance.com.au 

The last Modern Slavery Colab was held on 8 June 2023

THE CHALLENGE OF ASSESSING MODERN SLAVERY RISKS IN SUPPLY CHAINS BEYOND YOUR DIRECT SUPPLIERS

1. Review the Agenda for MS CoLab Two
2. Review the Presentation from MS Co-Lab Session Two
3. Review the MS Co-Lab Guidelines around anti-competitive or collusive behaviour, or cartel conduct 

The discussion covered 

• Causing, contributing to and being directly linked to human rights risks - the UN Guiding Principles
• Country-level risk, Materials and resources risk, and Sector and industry-level risk
• Common risk factors for modern slavery
• Supply chains with known and emerging modern slavery risks
• Some of the common ways of assessing risks across your supplier base, including audits, verifications and SAQs

4. Specific risks to AusLSA members and their supply chains, including cleaning, catering, electronics and outsourced services

5. Key challenges for assessing, understanding and verifying suppliers

6. Electronics Supply Chains

Julie Petticrew. Australian Representative at Electronics Watch joined the meeting as a guest speaker and spoke about:

• Particular human rights and modern slavery risks in electronics supply chains
• Related environmental and social risks in those
• What Electronics Watch is doing
• How businesses (and Australian law firms in particular) can do better, and what they should do differently
• Questions from around the group

7. Cleaning Supply Chains

Dr Miriam Thompson, Director of Program Development at the Cleaning Accountability Framework also joined the meeting as a guest speaker and spoke about:

• Particular human rights and modern slavery risks in cleaning and security
• What the Cleaning Accountability Framework is doing
• Case studies of things CAF has found, the most common issues reported or discovered, and how CAF helps change processes
• How businesses (and Australian law firms in particular) can do better, and what they should do differently
• Questions from around the group

1. Review the Agenda for MS CoLab Two
2. Review the Presentation from MS Co-Lab Session Two
3. Coming Soon - Review the Summary Notes from the MS Co-Lab Session Two
4. Review the MS Co-Lab Guidelines around anti-competitive or collusive behaviour, or cartel conduct 

If you want to learn more about the AusLSA Modern Slavery Co-Labs please contact Richard@legalsectoralliance.com.au

mailto:Richard@legalsectoralliance.com.au

Introducing the Co-Lab 

Twenty seven people from 21 AusLSA member firms joined the first session of the Co-Lab. 

The purpose of this session was all about learning about the objectives of the Co-Lab and sharing each firms progress and greatest challenges. This information forms an important foundation of the priorities and areas for the Co-Lab to cover. 

1. Review the Agenda for MS CoLab One 
2. Review the Presentation from MS Co-Lab Session One 
3. Review the Summary Notes from the MS Co-Lab Session One 
4. Review the MS Co-Lab Guidelines around anti-competitive or collusive behaviour, or cartel conduct 

The next Modern Slavery Co-Lab will be held on 8 June 2023

Following the progress of the early AusLSA Modern Slavery Roundtables and feedback from participants, we are kicking off an expanded program to support AusLSA members in managing their modern slavery objectives and obligations. This program is exclusively for AusLSA members and is provided at no cost.

Members are welcome to monimate one or more representatives from their firm with an interest in either their modern slavery program or the broader sustainability of your supply chains.

The initial phase of this program will include five, 90-minute sessions to explore the important components of an effective law firm modern slavery program. Attendees will also discuss the areas where law firms have the greatest need for development and evaluate the focus of an ongoing modern slavery support program. Session one will be held online on the 11th of May and on the second Thursday of each month thereafter.

The sessions will be facilitated in an interactive, consultative way and adapted to identify and meet the needs of the participants. The sessions will be led by the CEO of Better Sydney, Robin Mellon, and will include expert guest presentations. Robin has been a leader in sustainable supply chains for more than 10 years and is passionate about developing meaningful modern slavery programs and effective responses in Australia.

The core program objectives are to:

1. provide a confidential and collaborative environment for law firms to build relationships and share experiences with other modern slavery practitioners.

2. offer information, advice, case studies and potential solutions to address a series of key issues that law firms need to understand and address to improve the impact of their modern slavery programs.

3. articulate a set of shared issues and actions that law firms could continue to collaborate around with options about how this could be sustainably delivered.

The core program outputs will be:

1. a series of sessions covering both foundational and challenging issues tailored to improve the knowledge of participants and their capacity to improve their program.

2. a collection of resources and reference materials that can be shared with AusLSA members.

3. a proposal for law firm participants that outlines the focus, features, benefits, and resources for an effective ongoing law firm modern slavery program.

The success of the program and the benefits that firms will experience will be determined by having good representation and engagement from each member.

Please email me at richard@legalsectoralliance.com.au to nominate the person or people at your firm that would benefit most from participating in this series

sincerely

Richard Jennings