(Excerpt from Business News Australia)
While few people want to purchase products that involve the enslavement and exploitation of workers, the harsh reality is that most Australians are doing it every day.
From garments to agriculture to technology, various sectors in the global supply chain rely on the labour of an estimated 40.3 million victims trapped in modern slavery.
To complicate matters, COVID-19 has presented new challenges for auditors, who struggle to visit factory sites or can be led down a deceitful path by suppliers looking to circumvent regulation.
Speaking to Business News Australia, “Informed 365” co-founder and CEO Nicholas Bernhardt explained how there have been a significant number of incidents where auditors are sent to counterfeit workshops designed to hide the true nature of a company’s operations.
“Companies set up a model factory that looks as if all the employees are happy, but that’s not where the actual work happens. The work might happen 10km down the road under the worst conditions that you could possibly imagine,” Bernhardt said.
Read the complete article at Business News Australia: Hidden in plain sight: The painful truth behind modern slavery in Australia
