The Australian Commonwealth Government introduced the Modern Slavery Act (2018), which requires relevant organisations to identify and respond to the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.
Our first Modern Slavery Round Table was held in June 2019 and was well attended with representatives from Telstra, Optus, TPG Telecom (formerly Vodafone Australia), Vocus Group, Aussie Broadband and Amaysim.
Members recognised the need to drive both operational and cultural change to reduce the instances of modern slavery throughout the telco supply chain network, with the potential to increase awareness throughout organisations by improving workplace practices; ultimately making an impact on the pervasive crime that is international slavery.
For more information about how you can get involved please contact us.
Established by the Telco Together Foundation, the Industry Impact Hub is where industry leaders come together to discuss and take action on collaborative approaches to some of the most complex social challenges confronting our communities.
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Through the Industry Impact Hub we:
The cause areas that have been identified for collaborative action are Domestic & Family Violence and Modern Slavery.
The statement will send a strong message to the public that the elimination of modern slavery is a priority for the sector.
We acknowledge and respect human rights in our operations and supply chains, and understand the importance of identifying and addressing human rights impacts.
We seek to cooperate across our value chain, in areas where we can add more value than working independently; to identify issues, share insights and continually learn.
We acknowledge the risk of modern slavery and harm to people as a key driver for business action, to be considered along with other risks such as financial, market, operational or reputational risk.
We understand the complexity of supply chains and, subject to law, will undertake to share insights, aiming to increase transparency, visibility and facilitate cooperative responses.
We recognise the importance of working in partnership with our suppliers to mitigate risks, supporting them in their efforts to address modern slavery in their own supply chains.
There is strength in numbers so we look forward to the Australian telco industry and the Telco Together Foundation achieving more by working together. This builds on Telstra’s Code of Conduct and Human Rights Policy, and our work with the Joint Audit Cooperation, which holds our company, supply chain and those working with us to a high standard to help stamp out this inhumane practice.
As a founding member of the Telco Together Foundation, Vocus is proud to be part of the industry’s collaborative stance against modern slavery.
At Vocus we believe our people are the difference, and we want to ensure that applies to people working for organisations across our supply chains as well.
It is very concerning to me that any form of modern slavery exists today, including hidden in some supply chains.
As individuals, companies, industries and communities, we need to be aware of this reality and actively work to stamp out those practices. By working together as a sector, we can make the biggest possible positive impact.
There has never been a more important time for industry collaboration as companies, supply chains and customers grapple with modern slavery and its appalling, often hidden, impact on people.
Aussie Broadband looks forward to seeing what we can achieve together, over and above what we can achieve independently.
Optus respects the human rights and freedoms of every individual and believes there is no place for modern slavery in our world.
It is critical to collaborate as an industry to explore areas to collectively make a positive impact to reduce any risk of modern slavery in our supply chains.
A proactive and united effort from Aussie telcos is required to make a real difference to put an end to practices of modern slavery that exist in supply chains globally. The responsibility to eliminate modern slavery resides with businesses and it is up to us to take action to end exploitative practices.
It is our firm belief that there is no place for modern slavery in our operations or our supply chains and I am proud to work together with my peers to improve working conditions, both here in Australia and across our deep supply chains around the world.
Industry Impact Hub is an initiative of
Telco Together Foundation.
We are the industry’s foundation for collectively addressing some of the most complex social challenges within our increasingly connected world.
