19 October 2026 (Sydney, Australia): Businesses globally and in Australia are falling short of truly scrutinising their supply chains and are at risk of overestimating the impact of the action they are taking to stamp out modern slavery risk, despite good intentions and a desire to act.
New research from BSI and CIPS finds that while almost all (95%) global business leaders out of the 800 surveyed in eight countries said their organisations had identified modern slavery violations within the last 12 months, this figure rises to a staggering 100% among Australian respondents. Globally, less than one in three (31%) has terminated a contract with a supplier in response, though Australian businesses take a firmer stance, with 40% terminating contracts. Furthermore, while the vast majority carry out modern slavery risk assessments, only 36% globally can evidence the impact of them.
Globally, 50 million people are estimated to live in modern slavery, much of it related to forced labour in global supply chains , with most industries affected. After more than a decade of legislative efforts to prompt business action, 81% of global leaders, and 84% in Australia, say they are genuinely committed to eliminating modern slavery from their supply chains. Most also express confidence that their compliance and due diligence programmes meet requirements. Globally, 75% of European leaders are confident their practices meet the EU CSDDD, while locally, 84% of Australian leaders are extremely or very confident their practices meet the requirements of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018.
Yet compliance appears at risk of being a ‘tick box exercise’ rather than comprehensive or driving meaningful change, with most having at best a partial view of their supply chain and unable to conclusively say their efforts are improving outcomes for workers or tackling wider social or human rights risks. For example:
- More than three quarters (80%) globally believe they have sufficient evidence to demonstrate their supply chains are free from modern slavery. In Australia, an overwhelming 98% believe they have sufficient evidence for a regulatory inspection, despite only 22% of global businesses reporting comprehensive visibility of third-party suppliers.
- 56% of global firms (and 58% in Australia) carrying out supplier training on labour rights say they can’t evidence impact or haven’t sought to measure it.
- Three in five global firms (61%) that carry out unannounced supplier audits can’t evidence impact (52%) or don’t measure it (9%).
- More than a quarter (28%) globally do not require sub-tier disclosure in their contracts (28%) and 28% lack the resources to conduct assessments beyond Tier 1.
- Only 42% of global firms can evidence impact from their social auditing of suppliers. Locally, 52% of Australian firms carrying out social auditing cannot evidence the impact or have not measured it.
- 42% of those globally undertaking corrective action plans following audit findings can’t evidence impact or haven’t sought to measure it.
Part of the challenge is the increasing complexity of supply chains, which may span multiple countries. Globally, three fifths (62%) describe their visibility of social risks at Tier 1 of their supply chain as partial or minimal, a figure mirrored exactly (62%) in Australia. Globally, this rises to 73% for Tier 2 and 76% for Tier 3 and beyond (with 63% of Australian firms citing partial or minimal Tier 2 visibility). More than one in four globally (26%) and locally (28%) admit their sub-tier suppliers are unknown to them.
Globally, low visibility is down to regular change in supply chains (29%), suppliers providing unreliable or incomplete information (28%), or being unwilling to share information (28%). In Australia, the primary barriers are suppliers being unwilling to share information (31%) and supply chains changing too frequently (31%), alongside a fifth globally admitting it is simply not a priority (21%). Business leaders also indicated they weren’t always sure what to prioritize to drive meaningful change, with many citing challenges across audit consistency, internal resources, data quality, technology and regulation. And 57% globally said they lacked clear internal ownership of modern slavery as an issue.
The findings also highlight the complexity of what happens after issues are identified. Having identified modern slavery instances, 53% globally chose to work with suppliers to address issues rather than terminate contracts immediately, reflecting a focus on long-term improvement. In Australia, this figure is lower at 45%, aligning with the market's higher rate of immediate contract termination. However, globally, more than half were unable to confirm whether remediation efforts had fully resolved issues, while 11% globally (and 15% in Australia) say their response to identifying an issue was limited.
Despite the gaps around demonstrating or measuring impact, there is arguably misplaced confidence that action would stand up to scrutiny. Globally, more than three quarters (77%) are extremely or very confident their evidence base would satisfy a regulatory inspection or enforcement action, a sentiment shared by a near-universal 98% of Australian respondents. Globally, 77% believe their approach would withstand scrutiny from litigation funders, legal challenge, and investigative media. Despite having admitted to poor visibility, 75% globally said their data accurately reflected conditions across their supply chain.
At present, modern slavery requirements tend to vary by jurisdiction, although an international standard based on a British Standard is due to publish before the end of the year, bringing much-needed clarity.
Harold Pradal, President, Assurance Services at BSI said:
"These findings clearly demonstrate that organisations are proactively looking for modern slavery risks and finding them. The challenge for organisations is being able to demonstrate impact and show that their interventions are improving outcomes for workers. Addressing modern slavery risk cannot be seen as a tick box exercise, but about driving meaningful change.
“As regulatory expectations continue to evolve, organisations will need to move beyond piecemeal, compliance-led approaches and focus on measuring outcomes, strengthening supplier visibility and building greater transparency and trust. The challenge is no longer whether businesses are taking action, but whether they can demonstrate that their action is driving real improvements for vulnerable workers."
Charlene Loo, Managing Director, BSI Australia, said:
“While Australian businesses show strong intent, identifying modern slavery risks at a 100% rate, a concerning paradox remains: near-universal confidence in compliance sits alongside significant blind spots in sub-tier visibility. To bridge the critical gap between intention and verifiable impact, we must look critically at our own practices and challenge ourselves to evolve from foundational compliance toward true ethical accountability. By leveraging digital transformation and deeper supplier partnerships, we can build transparent supply chains that deliver genuine, measurable protections for vulnerable workers.”
Source: What is modern slavery? | Anti-Slavery International
