17th Sep 2018, 5:05 PM – Representatives Modern Slavery Bill 2018 - Consideration in Detail - Forced marriage

The majority voted against amendments introduced by Labor MP Clare O'Neil, which means they failed.

O'Neil MP explained her amendments:

Amendments (1) and (2) circulated in my name relate to forced marriage, which, as it currently stands, is a definition of slavery to which this modern slavery act would eventually be subject. Whether we should include forced marriage in the legislation before us is a complicated question. Under Australia's Criminal Code, forced marriage is considered one of the types of slavery that is outlawed under Australian law, but that doesn't really help us to answer the question as to whether it should in fact be subject to a modern slavery bill.

[...]

The question, though, is how broadly we define slavery under this act, and, specifically, whether we want to put an obligation on big companies in this country that they investigate forced marriage, as a form of slavery, which would then subject to the reporting requirements that we are discussing? It may come to pass in the future that we will consider that this is an important part of the act, but Labor believes that under this first go at the Australian Parliament legislating on this matter it is not appropriate to include forced marriage.

What is this bill all about?

According to the bills digest:

The Bill will require around 3,000 entities based or operating in Australia to prepare annual statements on potential modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains, and the steps they have taken to address those risks.