Australia’s biggest companies are complying well and most are producing high-quality modern slavery statements, but there’s still a long way to go, according to an annual assessment by the Monash Centre for Financial Studies.
Released last week, the fifth independent report on ASX100 companies’ modern slavery statements reveals the percentage of A-graded statements rose from just three percent in 2020-2021 to 58 percent in 2024-2025, while the percentage with an E or F fell from 23 percent to five percent.
112 statements were assessed this year, with companies involved in utilities (such as AGL Energy, APA Group and Origin Energy), consumer staples (such as Woolworths and Coles) and real estate continuing to come out on top.
Health care companies ranked the lowest overall, which is attributed to poor supply chain descriptions and modern slavery risks identification, inadequate due diligence and remediation processes and effectiveness assessment.
Report co-author at the Monash Centre for Financial Studies, Associate Professor Nga Pham, said it was pleasing to see so many companies take meaningful steps to address modern slavery risks and improve reporting transparency.
“What we’ve seen over the years has been very encouraging. Some ASX100 companies are proud leaders on best practices, strengthening their own reporting while also sharing insights and collaborating through industry initiatives to lift standards across the economy,” she said.
“We are now working to support reforms that will strengthen the Modern Slavery Act to make reporting clearer and more consistent. Hopefully, this will provide the clarity needed to help the remaining companies lift their disclosure practices and meet the standards expected.”
Despite the positive outlook, the report highlights persistent overall shortcomings including ongoing laggards, with several top ASX100 companies still struggling to meet reporting standards.
Companies outside the ASX100 are often providing lower-quality reports and many are still failing to report at all, while statements often report activities rather than measurable outcomes or impact.
To remedy this, researchers have put forward several key recommendations, such as introducing clarified and simplified reporting criteria that is more logically sequenced.
They suggest reporting could improve further if companies had to immediately report actions taken in the event of modern slavery incidents, guidance on due diligence is strengthened, the reporting requirement for grievance mechanisms and remediation is enhanced, and the Modern Slavery Act allows effective enforcement with penalties for non-compliance.
Australia’s Anti-Slavery Commissioner Chris Evans has welcomed the report, with a renewed commitment to engaging directly with companies whose reporting falls below good practice.
“Progress in reporting among our top listed companies is encouraging, but we must not lose sight of the hundreds of reporting entities that continue to submit poor-quality statements or fail to report entirely,” he said.
“These continued failures underscore the urgent need to strengthen legislation, penalties for non-compliance and mandatory due diligence to lift standards across all reporting entities.
“Our goal is not only to recognise leaders, but to lift standards across the board. Reporting is a vital first step, but it must be coupled with action. I look forward to working with companies to ensure that their statements reflect meaningful progress in addressing these risks.”
Modern slavery statements have been mandatory for large Australian businesses and other companies with annual consolidated revenue of at least $100 million since 2020.
