Original motion moved by Councillor Scott,
seconded by Councillor Weldon.
It is
resolved that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
the New
South Wales Anti-Slavery Commissioner describes modern slavery as situations
where offenders use coercion, threats or deception to exploit victims and
undermine their freedom. It is an umbrella term used to encompass a number of
exploitative practices including forced labour, slavery, servitude, debt
bondage, human trafficking, deceptive recruiting for labour services, the worst
forms of child labour and forced marriage;
(ii)
in
November 2021, NSW Parliament passed the Modern Slavery Amendment Act 2021 No
39 (NSW). Obligations on local government commenced on 1 July 2022;
(iii)
the
City of Sydney’s Chief Executive Officer, under delegation, approved a City of
Sydney Modern Slavery Policy on 20 November 2023, with the purpose of outlining
the City’s commitments to:
(a)
identifying,
managing and minimising the risk of modern slavery in our operations and supply
chains;
(b)
taking
steps to ensure that City of Sydney suppliers and others we do business with
are adequately managing modern slavery risks;
(c)
ensuring
the City of Sydney is compliant with obligations under the NSW Modern Slavery
Act; and
(d)
ensuring
that City of Sydney of Sydney employees are aware of the City of Sydney’s
requirements in relation to Modern Slavery;
(iv)
the
City of Sydney’s Modern Slavery Policy outlines it will comply with our
reporting obligations under the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), as well as
take steps to identify, manage and minimise risks and instances of modern
slavery in supply chains and business operations;
(v)
the
City of Sydney Modern Slavery Policy includes the following types of
exploitation:
(a)
trafficking
in people – the recruitment, harbouring and movement of persons for the
purposes of exploitation through modern slavery. This includes sexual
exploitation, forced labour or services and slavery and practices similar to
slavery;
(b)
slavery
– when a person exercises power of ownership over another;
(c)
servitude
– a situation where an individual’s freedom is significantly restricted, for
example they are not free to stop working or to leave their place of work;
(d)
forced
labour –where violence or other methods (for example accumulation or debt,
retention of identity papers) are used to coerce victims to work;
(e)
forced
marriage – where an individual is forced or deceived into marrying;
(f)
debt
bondage – where a victim’s services are pledged as security for a debt and the
debt is excessive, the length and nature of services are not defined or the
value of the services is not applied against the debt;
(g)
deceptive
recruiting for labour or services – where a victim is deceived about the conditions
in which they will be working; and
(h)
the
worst forms of child labour - situations where children are subjected to
slavery or similar practices, or engaged in hazardous work which could harm
their health and safety;
(B)
Council
further note that:
(i)
on 21
December 2023, councils were made aware by Office of Local Government circular
that the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner had published a document providing
guidance on steps government agencies are required to take to manage modern
slavery risks in their supply chains;
(ii)
the
document provides comprehensive guidance over 180 pages and contains seven key
areas for progressive improvement and implementation into financial year 2026
with a plan for continuous improvement over that period;
(iii)
the NSW
Anti-Slavery Commissioner published a template modern slavery policy in late
May 2024;
(iv)
further
guidance material from the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner, including a risk
management framework for modern slavery has been foreshadowed but is yet to be
published;
(v)
City
staff are working to understand the guidance material and are developing an
approach to update and implement changes to existing measures, including
resourcing to support this significant ongoing work;
(vi)
Council’s
Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee were provided with an initial update on
the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s guidance at the March 2024 meeting and
advised that a further update would be provided at the June 2024 meeting; and
(vii)
annual
attestation against the requirements of the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s
guidance will be required as the minimum standard from the 2024/25 financial
year;
(C)
Council
condemn acts of modern slavery in the strongest possible terms;
(D)
Council
note:
(i)
that
modern slavery has an horrific personal impact on the millions of people
subjected to it around the world;
(ii)
that
the City of Sydney has an ethical, reputational and financial imperative to act
to prevent modern slavery in all its forms, and to set the highest standards of
accreditation, compliance and reporting as a result; and
(iii)
that
safeguarding human rights is important to long-term City risk mitigation and
sustainability, and that we will act to do this in our operations internally as
well as with our outsourced providers and supply chains; and
(E)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
amend
the current City of Sydney Modern Slavery Policy to reflect these aspirations
and the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s template policy;
(ii)
continue
work to establish a three-year plan to achieve the Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s
guidance for compliance, performance and reporting on modern slavery risks in
its supply chains;
(iii)
bring
an amended City of Sydney Modern Slavery Policy back to Council for
consideration; and
(iv)
report
back to the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and Councillors via the CEO
Update on progress on the above.
Amended motion carried unanimously.
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