Facts & figures
- 49.6 million people live in modern slavery globally
- 54% are women and girls
- +1900 Australians are victims of modern slavery
- 1 in 5 victims in Australia are detected
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Modern slavery
Our commitment to respecting human rights
The University of Sydney is committed to respecting human rights and is taking meaningful action to address the global human rights issue of modern slavery.
What is modern slavery?
Modern slavery is a serious violation of an individual’s dignity and human rights. Exploitative practices, including human trafficking, slavery, servitude, forced labour, debt bondage and forced marriage, are all considered modern slavery and are serious crimes under Australian law.
It occurs in every country in the world including Australia. It also exists across all sectors and organisations. The International Labour Organisation estimates there are close to 50 million people in modern slavery conditions worldwide, with 41,000 people estimated to be living in conditions of modern slavery in Australia.
Modern slavery is only used to describe serious exploitation. It does not include practices like substandard working conditions or underpayment of workers. However, these practices are also illegal and harmful and may be indicators of modern slavery.
Professor Stephen Garton AM, Principal Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor discusses the University's role in Modern Slavery.
Our commitment and vision
How we address this challenging global issue is underpinned by our commitment to respect human rights and to take meaningful action to address modern slavery.
We all have a moral and ethical obligation to play our part in eradicating modern slavery practices. As a higher education institution occupying a unique space at the intersection of public and private enterprise, we recognise the important role the University, and the sector, can play in the global effort to eradicate modern slavery.
Our vision at the University of Sydney is for each and every one of us to play a part, whether it’s through undertaking much-needed research, building knowledge and awareness, supporting students or engaging with partners and suppliers on this important issue. Together we are well placed to have a collective and positive impact.
What is the University doing?
In response to the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2018, the University has established the Modern Slavery Unit, a dedicated expert team within the Office of the Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor providing a University-wide strategic approach for addressing modern slavery and driving collaboration across government, business and civil society to build the knowledge base and tools needed to generate transformative change.
Our 2023 Modern Slavery Statement (pdf, 4.9MB) provides a detailed account of actions we have taken to identify and address modern slavery risks in our operations and supply chains over the past year.
In 2022, our efforts to take meaningful action on addressing modern slavery were recognised as sector leading in Australia, with the University of Sydney being ranked 1st in the RMIT Business and Human Rights Centre's Evaluation of Modern Slavery Reporting in the Higher Education Sector. Over the coming years, we will continue to focus on:
Our statement provides the basis for continuous improvement as we track our progress against set outcomes and KPIs and continue to learn and grow as an institution committed to protecting human rights and preventing exploitation. Refer to our multi-year strategy (pdf, 90.7KB) for more information.
Our a four-stage risk analysis, enables us to identify key areas across our operations and supply chain with potential modern slavery risks.
Third party provider EcoVadis, will provide ongoing assessments of our suppliers covering a broad range of non-financial factors, including environmental, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainability impacts.
Our Modern Slavery Policy sets out our commitment to addressing modern slavery. It underpins our efforts to embed human rights considerations into our business-as-usual practices by setting out our commitment and standards of behaviour expected of all staff, affiliates, suppliers, and partners.
Our contracts and agreement templates include provisions on addressing modern slavery, including new requirements for all suppliers to the University.
We have partnered with Anti-Slavery Australia to develop an online training module for staff to help our people to identify and respond to modern slavery risks. The module is mandatory for all staff including fixed term, continuing and casual academics and professional services unit staff. All staff are required to complete the module every three years as a refresher. To date, 18,077 staff have completed the module since its launch in 2020.
An engaging anti-slavery awareness module has been specifically designed to help our students identify and understand the risks of modern slavery and to highlight where they can go for assistance and support. The module is available to all students via the student website.
To share your experiences and collaborate with us, email anti.slavery@sydney.edu.au.
Our methodology and tools
A critical first step in our journey has been to develop a policy and processes to help us identify potential modern slavery risks across our operations and supply chain.
We believe the University has an important role in educating people and empowering through education and awareness. As part of our contribution to the effort to eradicate modern slavery in the higher education sector, the templates and frameworks that underpin our efforts are shared here for adaptation or use within other contexts:
- Principles for taking meaningful action (pdf, 126KB)
- Modern slavery due diligence framework (pdf, 242KB)
- Four stage risk analysis (pdf, 150KB)
- Modern slavery due diligence across the procurement lifecycle (pdf, 542KB)
A range of tools and resources are available to learn more about and respond to the risks of modern slavery.
Anti-Slavery Australia is a specialist legal practice, research and policy centre committed to the abolition of modern slavery in Australia.
Identifying risk factors, commodities, sectors and geographies
- US Department of Labour - List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor
- Global Slavery Index
Online registers of company compliance history
Tools for engaging with suppliers to identify modern slavery risks in the supply chain
Guidance on taking action and reporting
Previous statements
- 2020 Modern Slavery Statement (pdf, 2.4MB)
Frequently asked questions
Under the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act (2018), the University is required to prepare an annual public statement on actions it has taken to identify and remediate modern slavery risks in its operations, supply chains and investments. The Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act Guidance for Reporting Entities incorporating the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and requires the University to assess the actual and potential human rights impacts to people.
To meet our reporting obligations, from 2020 onwards the University undertakes human rights due diligence with respect to its supply chains, operations and investments and implements appropriate policy initiatives to demonstrably and continually reduce risks of causing, contributing or being directly linked to modern slavery.
New requirements are in place for all suppliers to the University. For more information refer to our supplier webpage.
You can play a meaningful role by being a champion and advocate for addressing modern slavery.
You can get in touch with the University’s Modern Slavery team with any questions at anti.slavery@sydney.edu.au.
You can make an anonymous report through our online reporting form. The University’s Modern Slavery Unit will use the information you provide to understand your needs, to refer you to care and support if you would like this, and where possible, address the incident you are reporting.
Our research
As a leading university, we are uniquely placed to contribute to the global understanding and effort to address modern slavery through world leading research. Our researchers are applying academic and research expertise to help inform the world’s understanding of modern slavery and what we can all do collectively to eliminate it.