An extract from The Corporate Immigration Review, 10th Edition

Employer sponsorship

i Work permits

The policy underlying Australia's skilled migration programme is to 'maximise lifetime earnings – and therefore the maximum contribution to productivity growth and fiscal impact'. Work permits in Australia are most frequently granted under employer-sponsored visas. The purpose of the employer sponsored visa category is to fill identified skill shortages in the short, medium and long term. The Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa and the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa (subclass 186) are the two most common options for business wishing to sponsor an overseas worker.

ii Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visa programme

The Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa allows Australian companies to nominate foreign workers in skilled occupations for up to two or four years, depending whether the nominated occupation falls on the Short-Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) or the Medium- and Long-Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). The nominated occupation must be on the STSOL or the MLTSSL with the occupation lists reviewed and updated on a six- to 12-monthly basis. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the STSOL and the MTLSSL can be changed at any given time by the issuance of a new legislative instrument. The TSS visa programme is demand-driven and is not subject to a quota. The application process for the TSS involves three stages.

The introduction of the TSS programme has reduced the available pathways to employer sponsored permanent residence. Visa holders under the short-term stream are able to renew the TSS visa once onshore for a further two years but cannot access employer sponsored permanent residence. Visa holders under the medium-stream will need to have been on their TSS visa for three years (rather than two years) with the same employer in a nominated occupation, unless the applicant is able to access transitional arrangements The aforementioned regulations do not apply to applicants who are able to access transitional arrangements (see below).

iii Grandfathering arrangements

The Department of Home Affairs implemented particular arrangements for visa holders whose applications were lodged or approved prior to 18 April 2017.

These visa holders will be able to access existing permanent visa provisions under the Temporary Residence Transition stream of the subclass 186 visa. Specifically:

  1. the nominated occupation does not need to be on the current list of eligible occupations;
  2. the visa holder needs to have held their subclass 457 visa for at least two years out of the previous three years before applying; and
  3. the visa holder must be under the age of 50 (unless exempt). Eligible overseas workers will need to lodge an application for permanent residence by March 2022 to access these transitional arrangements.
iv Occupation lists

The occupation lists, formerly known as the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) and the Skilled Occupation List (SOL), underpin a range of visas, including the subclass 482 visa. As of 19 April 2017, the CSOL and SOL were updated and renamed as the STSOL and the MLTSSL, and the Regional Occupation List respectively. The current skilled occupation lists were updated on 11 March 2019. These changes included standardising the MLTSSL by making 30 occupations available to all visa subclasses. As of March 2019, 508 skilled occupations are eligible for the TSS visa programme. An occupation ceiling may be applied to invitations issued for selected occupation groups. This ensures that the skilled migration programme is not dominated by a small number of occupations.

v Labour market testing

Labour market testing (LMT) requires that sponsors first attempt to recruit suitably qualified and experienced Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents for the position they wish to nominate under the TSS visa programme. Under the regulations, LMT is mandatory for all sponsors unless the occupation is exempt or an international trade obligation applies. LMT must be conducted for at least 28 days and within the four months immediately before lodgement of the nomination component of the application. The evidence to support this must be provided at the time of lodgement.

The employer is required to place two advertisements for the nominated position including the position title, required skills, name of employer or the recruiter and salary range if annual earnings are lower than A$96,000.

Sponsors must satisfy the assessing officer that the business tested the local labour market sufficiently but no suitable Australian citizens or permanent residents were found.

Exemption from LMT is available where there would be a conflict with Australia's international trade obligations. Australia's international trade obligations fall under two categories:

  1. World Trade Organization General Agreement on Trade in Services (WTO GATS) commitments; or
  2. free trade agreements.

Those cases where it would be inconsistent with Australia's international trade obligations under an agreement with a third country or countries to require a sponsor to satisfy the labour market testing condition are specified in a legislative instrument. Some obligations are contained in more than one trade agreement (for example, under both WTO GATS and a bilateral free trade agreement).

WTO member countries

World Trade Organization member countries are listed under 'WTO membership' on the WTO website and should be referred to for current information.

Intra-corporate transferees

An intra-corporate transferee is an employee of a business that is established in a World Trade Organisation Member State or a country with whom Australia has a trade agreement that includes this category of entrant, and who is transferred by that business lawfully operating in Australia to fill a vacancy in that business. Intra-corporate transferees are a broad category of entrant and can be either an executive, senior manager or specialist.

vi Skilling Australians Fund levy

On 12 August 2018, the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy replaced the previous Training Benchmark requirement. This levy contributes to the Skilling Australians Fund operated by the Department of Education and Training, with the objective of reducing the regulatory burden on employers and providing improved training outcomes for Australians. This fee is payable upon lodgement of the nomination application. This levy is payable on the subclass 482, 186 and 187 nomination applications. The levy makes a distinction between small and large businesses. Sponsoring entities with a turnover of less than A$10 million per year are considered to be small businesses, while entities with a turnover of A$10 million per year are defined as large businesses.

The levy payable for TSS (subclass 482) nominations are:

  • A$1,200 each visa year for a small business; and
  • A$1,800 each visa year for a large business.

The levy payable for ENS (subclass 186) and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (subclass 187) nominations are:

  • A$3,000 for a small business; and
  • A$5,000 for a large business.

The SAF levy aims to raise over A$1.5 billion over the next four years to help train and skill Australians in regional areas and in high-demand occupations. This scheme will ensure that businesses that benefit from migrant employees also contribute to supporting the training of Australians.

vii SponsorshipStandard Business Sponsorship approval

The employing business first needs to be approved as a standard business sponsor. As a prerequisite, the business must be operating lawfully in Australia and be able to demonstrate that the business is operating. It must not have any adverse information recorded against it. If the business is a company, it will need to show its Australian Business Number registration, evidence of its business name registration (if applicable) and evidence of its incorporation (the Australian Company Number for an Australian company). All business sponsors (including start-ups companies and sponsors that are provided with accredited status) are now provided with a five-year Standard Business Sponsorship approval period.

Nomination

The second stage involves the employer nominating a proposed visa applicant in an occupation listed on either the STSOL or MLTSSL. Sponsoring businesses must provide evidence that the sponsored applicant is subject to terms and conditions of employment no less favourable than those of Australian workers in the same occupation in the same location, and evidence that the salary offered is at market rate. All employers (regardless of the nominated occupation), must also satisfy the LMT requirements unless an international obligation applies, and show existence of genuine skill needs that could not be sourced from the local labour market. The nominator must be able to demonstrate that the nominated position is a genuine position and that the nominator requires the nominee in the nominated occupation.

Changing employer sponsors on a TSS visa must be done in a timely manner to ensure that the TSS visa does not get cancelled. If a subclass 457 or TSS visa was granted before the 19 November 2016, the visa applicant will have 90 days to transfer the nomination; if a subclass 457 or TSS visa was granted on the 19 November 2016 or after, the visa applicant will have 60 days.

Visa

When applying for the visa, there are key criteria that must be met by the applicant:

skill: the applicant must demonstrate the requisite skill for the nominated occupation. In certain circumstances, especially in relation to trade occupations, applicants may be required to provide a positive skills assessment from the relevant skill assessment body;work experience: with the introduction of the TSS visa, all applicants must demonstrate at least two years of work experience relevant to the particular occupation;English-language requirement: the primary applicant must meet the English requirement unless exempt;registration or licensing: for certain occupations, although a skills assessment may not be required, registration is needed to practise or work in that occupation. TSS visa holders must obtain any mandatory registration, licence or membership within 90 days of the visa grant. Often to qualify for occupation registration, the applicant may need to show proficiency in English; andcharacter: the applicant must provide police clearance certificates for any residencies of at least 12 months in any country in the previous 10 years.

viii ENS visa (subclass 186)

The permanent employer sponsored programme is a residence visa scheme for skilled workers who are sponsored by an Australian business, and can be applied for either onshore or offshore. The subclass 186 visa allows skilled applicants to work under one of three streams; the Temporary Residency Transition stream, the Direct Entry stream and the Labour Agreement stream.

The following changes were made to the ENS requirements in 2018:

  1. the English-language requirement was raised;
  2. the age requirement was lowered to 45 years of age;
  3. applicants must now be paid in accordance with Australian market salary rate and meet the temporary skilled migration income threshold;
  4. the ENS programme was limited to occupations on the MLTSSL only; and
  5. stricter regulation of sponsors was introduced to ensure their obligations under the Migration Regulations 1994 are met.
Temporary Residence Transition stream

The Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream is geared towards applicants who have been on a subclass 482 or subclass 457 visa and who intend to be sponsored by the same employer under the subclass 186 visa. To be eligible, applicants must have worked full time on a subclass 482 visa for at least three of the four years prior to the subclass 186 nomination application. If the applicant held (or had applied for and were later granted) a subclass 457 visa on 18 April 2018, they must have worked full time on the subclass 457 visa for at least two of the three years prior to nomination.

Applicants must also meet the following requirements or meet an exemption:

  1. applicants' nominated occupation must be on the MLTSSL or STSOL;
  2. applicants must be less than 45 years of age; and
  3. applicants must have a competent level of English.
Direct Entry stream

The Direct Entry stream is designed for applicants who do not meet the requirements of the TRT stream or who are not yet in Australia, provided they satisfy the skill and work experience requirement.

Applicants must meet the following requirements or exemptions:

  1. the applicant must be less than 45 years of age;
  2. the applicant must have at least a competent level of English;
  3. the applicant must have an occupation listed on the MLTSSL;
  4. the applicant must have at least three years of experience relevant to the particular occupation; and
  5. the applicant is required to have a positive skills assessment from a relevant skills assessment body.
Skills exemptions

Unless exempt, overseas workers must obtain a positive skills assessment for their nominated occupation from the relevant skills assessment authority in Australia. Skills exemptions apply only to the Direct Entry stream and applicants must meet the following requirements:

the applicant must be nominated as an academic by an Australian university or as a researcher by an Australian government agency;the applicant must have nominated earnings at least equivalent to the current Australian Taxation Office top individual income tax rate; orthe applicant must have been working for the applicant's sponsor as the holder of a subclass 444 or subclass 461 visa in the applicant's nominated occupation for the past two years.

Labour Agreement stream

The Labour Agreement stream is for applicants sponsored by an employer under a labour agreement or regional migration agreement. Applicants in this stream must meet the following requirements:

  1. applicants must be less than 45 years of age;
  2. applicants must have the qualifications and skills stipulated in the labour agreement; and
  3. applicants must satisfy the English-language requirement stipulated in the labour agreement.
Subclass 186 application

A subclass 186 application comprises the following two stages: ENS approval and then the visa application. Both stages must be completed under the same stream:

ENS approval

All employers must first be approved as a sponsor under the ENS programme. The following criteria must be fulfilled.

  1. the employer's business is actively and lawfully operating in Australia;
  2. the nominated position is available for the nominee for at least two years full time and this is renewable;
  3. in the terms and conditions of employment, the nominee's conditions are the same as those that would apply to an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident in a comparable position;
  4. there is no adverse information relating to the employer that is known to the Department of Home Affairs; and
  5. the employer has complied with relevant workplace laws.
Age

Age exemptions are available to applicants who:

  1. are nominated as an academic by an Australian university or as a researcher by an Australian government agency;
  2. have been working for their sponsor as the holder of a subclass 457 visa for at least four years and whose earnings have been at least equivalent to the Fair Work Australia high-income threshold for each year over that period;
  3. are nominated as a medical practitioner after working for the nominating employer for at least four years as a subclass 547 or 422 visa holder with two of those years being in a location in regional Australia; or
  4. are applying through the TRT stream and are under 50 years of age, and whose subclass 482 visa was lodged before 18 April 2017.
English language

Overseas workers must show they meet the English requirement at the time the application is lodged. Currently, competent English is the minimum level required for the ENS programme. From 16 November 2019, the English exemption previously available under the TRT stream was removed from the legislative instrument. All applicants must show competent English at the time the application is submitted.

Dependants

Dependants of a primary visa applicant may be included in a subclass 186 visa application. In November 2016, the definition of 'members of the family unit' (MoFU) was simplified and is now limited to any of the following individuals who share a specific relationship with the main applicant:

  1. a partner, which includes any spouse or de facto partner; and
  2. a child or stepchild of the main applicant or the main applicant's partner who is under the age of 18; or is under the age of 23 and is dependent on the main applicant or the main applicant's partner; or has turned 23 but is dependent on the main applicant or the main applicant's partner as defined in the Migration Regulations 1994.

Transitional arrangements have been put in place for applicants who held a listed visa subclass prior to the November 2016 changes, to allow them to apply for a new visa with the rest of their family unit, even if they no longer qualify under the MoFU definition; for example, if they are now over the age of 23.

ix Subclass 187 visa application

The subclass 187 visa allows sponsoring an overseas employee to work in a regional area of Australia under either the TRT stream or the Labour Agreement stream.

On 16 November 2019, the Direct Entry stream was closed to new applicants and was replaced by the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494).

The applicant for a subclass 187 visa needs to be under 45 years of age, meet the skills, qualifications and English-language requirements (unless exempt), and be nominated by an approved Australian employer. The current requirements regarding age, skill and English language are set out as follows:

Age: an applicant must be less than 45 years of age at the time of lodgement unless exempt. This maximum age requirement was decreased from 50 to 45 years of age on 1 July 2017. A maximum age requirement of 50 at the time of application will continue to apply for TRT stream applicants who held (or had applied for and were granted late) a subclass 457 visa on 18 April 2017.Skills and work: for the Direct Entry stream, applicants must show a positive skills assessment in addition to three years of full-time post-qualification work experience. Skills assessments obtained for temporary graduate visa applications are not accepted as they are not considered full skills assessments for permanent skilled migration purposes. This does not affect any ENS and RSMS applications lodged prior to the effect of this change on 28 October 2013. For the TRT stream, applicants must show that they worked for the sponsoring company as a holder of a subclass 457 or 482 visa and that they have applied their skills in their nominated occupation for at least three years.English language: from 1 July 2017, the English language requirement for all streams has been raised to competent English, which requires a score of at least six in each of the four test components in the International English Language Testing System examination or equivalent. Exemptions to the above requirements are only available in limited circumstances.

x Subclass 491 and 494 visa applications

As stated above, the subclass 491 and 494 visas are temporary visas granted for five years introduced on 16 November 2019. The applicant is required to live and work in regional Australia for three years before transitioning to permanent residency under subclass 191.

Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) – Employer Sponsored Stream

This visa enables regional employers to address identified gaps within their region by sponsoring skilled workers when they are unable to source an appropriately skilled Australian worker. This visa allows the holder to live, work and study in a designated regional area and to apply for permanent residency after three years of regional employment.

There are three stages in obtaining this visa: standard business sponsorship, 494 nomination application and the 494 visa application.

Standard Business Sponsorship application

This is the same as the Standard Business Sponsorship process discussed above in Section IV.vii, which is also required for the subclass 482 visa.

494 nomination application

The second stage involves the employer nominating a proposed visa applicant in an occupation listed on the 494 occupation list. Sponsoring businesses must provide evidence that the sponsored applicant is subject to terms and conditions of employment no less favourable than those of Australian workers in the same occupation in the same location, and evidence that the salary offered is at market rate. All employers (regardless of the nominated occupation), must also satisfy the requirements of LMT unless an international obligation applies, and show existence of genuine skill needs that could not be sourced from the local labour market. The nominator must be able to demonstrate that the nominated position is a genuine position and that the nominator does require the nominee in the nominated occupation.

494 visa application

To be eligible for the visa, the applicant must:

  1. be under 45 years old at the time of application;
  2. be nominated by an approved sponsor in a designated regional area;
  3. have three years of full-time experience in the nominated occupation in the previous five years;
  4. have a positive skills assessment;
  5. have at least competent English; and
  6. meet character and health requirements.
Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)

This is a points-tested visa for applicants sponsored by:

  1. a designated regional area of an Australian state or territory, or
  2. an eligible family member residing in a designated regional area of Australia.

To be eligible for this visa the applicant must:

  1. be on the subclass 491 occupation list;
  2. be sponsored by an eligible relative or state authority;
  3. be invited to apply by the Department of Home Affairs;
  4. be under 45 years of age;
  5. have a positive skills assessment;
  6. be able to score 65 points or more;
  7. have at least competent English; and
  8. meet character and health requirements.
xi Annual market salary rates

Australia has implemented strict labour market regulations, which must be adhered to by both visa applicants and businesses. In particular, considerable attention has been paid to reducing the likelihood of foreign worker exploitation. To successfully sponsor a foreign worker, employers must ensure that they pay their nominees a salary comparable to that of an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident in a similar position. This is referred to as the annual market salary rate (AMSR). The AMSR is determined by looking at what the employer would pay equivalent Australian workers, enterprise agreements or industrial awards, job outlook information, job advertisements for the previous six months in the same location, and remuneration surveys or advice from unions or employer associations.

xii Obligations of sponsors

Under the subclass 482 visa programme, an approved business sponsor is immediately subject to sponsorship obligations. The standard business sponsor must ensure that the terms and conditions of employment provided to the subclass 482 visa holder are no less favourable than those provided to Australian citizens or permanent residents performing equivalent work in the same workplace. Furthermore, the sponsor is legally restricted from recovering from the visa holder certain costs associated with the sponsorship, nomination and recruitment of the foreign worker. The nature and duration of the obligations are as follows.

  1. Employer obligation Duration of obligation
  2. Obligation to cooperate with inspectors Starts at approval of sponsorship and ceases five years after sponsorship ceases
  3. Obligation to ensure equivalent terms and conditions of employment Starts at approval of nomination or visa grant until employment ceases or grant of new substantive visa
  4. Obligation to pay travel costs to enable sponsored persons to leave Australia Starts at approval of nomination or visa grant until new nomination approved or grant of new substantive visa or leaving Australia
  5. Obligation to pay costs incurred by the Commonwealth to located and remove unlawful non-citizen Starts when sponsored person becomes unlawful non-citizen until five years after sponsored person leaves Australia
  6. Obligation to keep records Starts at approval of sponsorship until two years after final sponsored person ceases with the sponsor
  7. Obligation to provide records and information to the Minister Starts at approval of sponsorship until two years after final sponsored person ceases with the sponsor
  8. Obligation to provide information to Immigration when certain events occur Starts at approval of sponsorship until sponsorship ceases and employer no longer sponsors the visa holder
  9. Obligation to secure an offer of a reasonable standard of accommodation Relevant for Subclass 403, 407 and 408 visas only. Sponsor obligations can be found in Migration Regulations 1994
  10. Obligation to ensure skilled worker does not work in an occupation other than an approved occupation. Starts at approval of nomination or visa grant until new nomination approved or grant of new substantive visa or leaving Australia
  11. Obligation to provide training Starts at approval of sponsorship. If the period of standard business sponsorship is less than six years, the obligation ceases after three years. If the period of standard business sponsorship is at least six years, the obligation ceases after six years
  12. Obligation not to engage in discriminatory recruitment practices Starts at approval of sponsorship until approved sponsorship ceases and no sponsored persons in relation to the sponsor

The Department of Home Affairs, together with the Australian Border Force, has a wide range of powers to monitor and investigate possible non-compliance with sponsorship obligations and various measures to address identified breaches of these obligations. These include taking administrative action to bar or cancel the sponsorship approval, or to issue civil pecuniary penalties by way of infringement notices.

Sanctions may be imposed in a number of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

  1. the business sponsor provides false or misleading information;
  2. the business sponsor fails to meet or no longer meets the sponsoring criteria;
  3. the business sponsor or the primary sponsored person contravenes the law of the Commonwealth, state or territory;
  4. the business sponsor fails to comply with the terms of a special programme agreement, or makes unapproved changes to the programme;
  5. the business sponsor fails to pay additional security as requested by an authorised office; and
  6. the business sponsor fails to pay medical and hospital expenses for the primary sponsored person.

As part of the new reforms to the permanent employer sponsored skilled migration programme the Department of Home Affairs will commence publishing details relating to sponsors who are sanctioned for failing to meet their obligations under the Migration Regulation 1994 and related legislation. The Migration and Other Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Integrity) Act 2018 (the Enhanced Integrity Act) contained in the associated regulations enables the Minister to publish information about an approved sponsor or former sponsor who has failed to meet the applicable sponsorship obligations. The following information about the sanctions must be published:

  1. information identifying the approved sponsor or former approved sponsor;
  2. the sponsorship obligations that they have failed to satisfy, and other details of the breach;
  3. action taken against the sponsor under the Migration Act 1958, including details of any sanctions or subsequent decisions to waive the sanction.

The associated regulation also give power to the Department of Home Affairs to:

  1. collect, record, store and use the tax file numbers of skilled migrants for compliance and research purposes; and
  2. allow the Department of Home Affairs to enter into an enforceable undertaking with a sponsor that has breached its obligations.

The provisions of the Enhanced Integrity Act are retrospective as they allow publication of actions that were undertaken under the relevant provisions that occurred on or after 18 March 2015.

Administrative sanctions may result in the sponsorship being cancelled, or the business sponsor being barred from nominating candidates and from making further applications for approval as a sponsor for a specified period. A decision to bar a business sponsor from sponsoring for a certain time can be reviewed at the AAT. In certain circumstances, there may be grounds for the business sponsor to apply for the bar to be waived. If the application to the AAT is unsuccessful, the applicant may make a request to the Minister to waive the bar under Section 140O of the Migration Act.

With the enactment of the Migration Amendment (Reform of Employment Sanctions) Act 2013, Australia's system regarding employer sanctions is now organised according to three tiers of offences, reflecting the graduation of consequences faced by the employer based on the seriousness of the offence:

  1. non-fault civil penalty provisions: fault elements of knowledge and recklessness do not apply and evidence does not need to be proven 'beyond reasonable doubt';
  2. non-aggravated offences (baseline offences): physical and fault elements (knowledge or recklessness) must be established beyond reasonable doubt. These offences are punishable by up to two years' imprisonment; and
  3. aggravated criminal offences: occur where there is exploitation of the foreign national worker. Such offences correlate with their non-aggravated counterparts and are punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.

Statutory defences are available for both non-aggravated criminal offences and for civil penalty provisions. The defendant bears the burden of proof to show that they took reasonable steps at reasonable times to either verify that the foreign national worker was not an unlawful non-citizen or verify by checking a government computer system that the foreign national worker was not in breach of the work-related visa.

xiii Rights and duties of sponsored employees

The primary subclass 482 visa holder must be paid market salary rates by the sponsor and the market salary must be equal to or greater than the temporary skilled migration income threshold (TSMIT), which at present is A$53,900. The TSMIT has a dual purpose: first to act as an indicator that an occupation is skilled and, second, to ensure that a visa holder has reasonable means of support while in Australia. The TSMIT will apply if the market rate of a particular occupation is below this threshold. The TSMIT is indexed in accordance with average weekly incomes.

Subclass 482 visa holders may be subject to various visa conditions, including condition 8170, which obliges the visa holder to work with the sponsoring company in the nominated occupation, and condition 8501, which makes all new subclass 482 visa holders responsible for healthcare costs for themselves and their respective families. Breach of these conditions may result in cancellation of the visa.

xiv Modern slavery and human trafficking compliance

The Department of Home Affairs states the following in its 2020 background paper 'The Administration of the Immigration and Citizenship Program':

In Australia, modern slavery refers to a range of serious exploitative practices, including human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices (such as forced marriage, forced labour, domestic servitude, and debt bondage). These are criminalised in the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 (the Criminal Code).In the context of the immigration program, the Australian Government is aware of a very small proportion of non-citizens who are suspected victims of modern slavery or human trafficking (51), identified in the 2018–19 program year, representing 0.0006 per cent of all visas granted (8.98 million visa grants).

Sponsoring companies must be aware of the risk of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth), which is presently the only focused legislative framework in Australia designed to combat or report modern slavery, commenced operation on 1 January 2019. In Australia, an entity falls within the scope of the Modern Slavery Act and is required to report pursuant to the Act if it meets the following criteria for a reporting entity:

  1. it has a consolidated revenue of at least A$100 million over its 12-month reporting period;
  2. it is an Australian entity at any time in that reporting period; and
  3. it is a foreign entity carrying on business in Australia at any time in that reporting period.

Entities may also choose to provide a voluntary report if they do not meet the criteria listed above. The report, referred to as the Modern Slavery Statement, must contain the following information:

  1. identity of the reporting entity;
  2. description of the reporting entity's structure, operations and supply chains;
  3. description of the risks of modern slavery practices in the operations and supply chains of the reporting entity and any entities it owns or controls to assess and address these risks, including due diligence and remediation processes;
  4. description of how the reporting entity assesses the effectiveness of these actions;
  5. description of the process of consultation with any entities the reporting entity owns or controls (a joint statement must also describe consultation with the entity giving the statement); and
  6. any other relevant information.

The introduction of this legislative framework was a huge milestone in tackling the issue of modern slavery within Australia. According to the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report 2019, Australia has demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to eliminate human trafficking and consistently rates as a 'Tier 1' country in this regard. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) (New South Wales Act) is not yet in force and is currently subject to parliamentary review.