From Transparency to Criminal Liability: Modern Slavery as Corporate Crime

Australia’s Modern Slavery Act is changing. Join the conversation on what criminal liability could mean for business, workers and survivors. 2026 Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) pre-conference workshop To-date, Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) has relied on largely voluntary action to identify and address modern slavery in the supply chains and operations of private and public entities. In July 2026, the Australian Government proposed a significant shift: a new criminal offence for large companies that fail to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, alongside a defence for businesses that can demonstrate they took reasonable preventive steps. So, what would this mean in practice? This interactive workshop brings together academics, practitioners, policymakers, businesses, unions, community and lived-experience voices to explore what an effective failure-to-prevent regime could look like. Together, we will ask: What would it take to move corporate responses beyond compliance and drive meaningful change for workers and victim/survivors? Join us for a timely and practical conversation about the future of modern slavery regulation in Australia and what meaningful accountability could look like. Provisional agenda: 9.00 – 9.15 Registration and tea/coffee 9.15 – 9.20 Acknowledgement of country, opening and outline of workshop 9.20 – 9.50 Session 1 (Panel): How did we get here? From transparency without accountability to criminal liability • Lorraine Finlay, Australian Human Rights Commissioner • Professor Justine Nolan, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute • Carolyn Kitto, National Co-Director, Be Slavery Free 9.50 – 10.10 Session 2 (Presentation): The proposed offence: What is changing and what remains unresolved? • Claire Falconer, Director, Office of the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner 10.10 – 10.40 Session 3 (Interactive exercise): Put the offence to the test 10.40 – 11.00 Session 4 (Expert reflections): What taking ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent modern slavery involves • James Cockayne, NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner 11.00 – 11.30 Morning Tea and Networking 11.30 – 12.00 Session 5 (Panel): Corporate criminal liability in practice: Accountability and enforcement • Emma Peters, Director, ESG, Corporate & Commercial Teams, Cowell Clarke Commercial Lawyers • Ramila Chanisheff, President of Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association 12.00 – 12.30 Session 6 (Panel): What does justice looks like for workers and victim/survivors? • Sarah Quick, South Australian Commissioner for Victims’ Rights • Umes, Former International Student, Lived experience speaker 12.30 – 12.45 Collective synthesis: Principles for an effective failure-to-prevent regime 12.45 Workshop Close More speakers will be added closer to the event – please check back. Please note: places are limited and catering will be provided based on registration numbers. If you can no longer attend, please cancel your registration as soon as possible so that your place can be offered to another participant. Please advise of any dietary requirements at registration. This event is a pre-conference workshop for the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) 2026 conference. If you wish to also attend the main conference on 1-3 December 2026, please register here.