Understanding Supplier Ethical Risk
MODERN sLAVERY/ sUPPLIER eTHICAL rISK aNALYSIS
Modern supply chains are increasingly complex, global, and multi-tiered. As a result, organisations often lack full visibility into how goods and services are produced, particularly beyond tier-one suppliers.
Supplier ethical risk refers to the potential for harm occurring anywhere in the supply chain, including issues such as:
- Forced labour and human trafficking
- Unsafe or exploitative working conditions
- Deceptive recruitment practices
- Debt bondage and wage exploitation
- Environmental and social compliance failures in upstream suppliers
These risks are often not visible through traditional procurement processes or standard supplier audits. In many cases, they exist deep within sub-tier suppliers where transparency is limited.
For procurement and ESG teams, the challenge is no longer simply policy compliance—it is continuous risk identification and early detection across complex supply networks.
LEGISLATION
The Australian Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth)
Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018 establishes a national transparency framework requiring large organisations to report on modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains.
Who must comply
Entities carrying on business in Australia with consolidated annual revenue of $100 million or more must prepare and submit a Modern Slavery Statement each reporting period.
What must be submitted
A Modern Slavery Statement must be submitted annually (within 6 months after financial year end).
The statement must be approved at board level and signed by a responsible member.
Mandatory content of the statement
Identity
Identify the reporting entity
Structure & operations
Describe operations
Describe supply chains
Risk identification
operations
supply chains
owned/controlled entities
Actions taken
assess risks
address risks
conduct due diligence
remediate issues
Effectiveness
Explain how the entity assesses whether actions are effective
What “modern slavery” includes
The Act covers serious exploitation such as:
Forced labour
Human trafficking
Debt bondage
Slavery-like conditions
Child exploitation
Deceptive recruitment
Public disclosure requirement
Statements are published on a public government register
Accessible to anyone online
Designed to increase transparency and reputational pressure
From Compliance to Visibility: Supplier Ethical Risk Radar
To address these challenges, Belgrave International has developed the Supplier Ethical Risk Radar, a supplier ethical risk analysis and monitoring tool designed to support procurement and ESG teams.
What the Supplier Ethical Risk Radar does
The platform is designed to help organisations:
- Identify potential ethical and modern slavery risks across suppliers
- Analyse risk exposure across categories, geographies, and supplier types
- Support ESG and procurement due diligence processes
- Strengthen reporting under the Australian Modern Slavery Act
See the video below for a quick tour of the tool:
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