David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not support the proposed amendment and the removal of forced marriage from the definition of modern slavery. We've carefully considered this issue in consultation with over 100 experts in the business community and broader society. The broad feedback was strongly in favour of the inclusion of forced marriage within the definition of modern slavery. This is because some entities may directly contribute to forced marriage through their business activities. We believe that should be captured within the definition under the act. For example, a mining company may report on forced marriage risks because it runs remote overseas accommodation camps for workers who are forcibly marrying women. The bill will also apply to entities that may choose to include information in their statements about their actions to ensure that forced marriages don't occur as part of their services. The bill doesn't require entities to investigate or assess the private activities of their employees, which is important to note. Our approach to forced marriage is consistent with the way we will require entities to report on other modern slavery risks linked to their business activities. For example, members have highlighted the potential vulnerability of some private domestic workers to modern slavery. Under this act we will expect companies that provide domestic workers for their overseas employees to report on what they are doing to ensure these workers are not exploited. For these reasons the government does not support the proposed amendment.

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