#117 How Businesses Can Combat Modern Slavery: Professor John Dumay

Can businesses really tackle the pervasive issue of modern slavery?

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Richard Howitt was joined by an expert in the field, Johannes Dumay, Professor in Accounting at Macquarie University, Sydney, and multi-award-winning researcher on modern slavery as well as sustainability accounting and reporting.

Together they discussed how corporate attitudes towards modern slavery have (and haven't!) evolved over the past decade, as well as what the increasing number of court cases on the issue mean for the future of companies’ responsibility and duty of care in their supply chains. You’ll also hear about:

·      John's verdict on whether legal requirements on companies in relation to modern slavery, from the UK to Australia, have actually been effective

·      Why companies having more of a risk management culture rather than a due diligence culture is preventing them from effectively identifying and remediate modern slavery

·      To what extent the EU ForcedLabour Regulation will be able to meet its objective of eliminating forced labour from supply chains

·      What the glove manufacturer Ansell gets right in its modern slavery report

·      The potential future of modern slavery legislation: companies having to demonstrate the modern slavery is not in their supply chains if they are based in high-risk areas

·      Why John has changed his mind on boycotting the chocolate industry altogether

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