❓ WA Government acknowledges the Modern Slavery Act 2018 but indicates limited action taken by departments to assess and address modern slavery risks in supply chains, citing lack of direct applicability and ongoing development of an Ethical Procurement framework.
AnsweredQoN 5496Legislative Assembly
Asked
24 September 2019
Member
Portfolio
Treasurer; Minister for Finance; Aboriginal Affairs; Lands
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the recently passed Commonwealth legislation, the Modern Slavery Act 2018, and ask: (a) How many government departments and agencies have assessed the risk of modern slavery in their supply chains; (b) What funding has each government department or agency allocated and over what timeframe to stamp out modern slavery in their supply chains; (c) How many suppliers to government departments and agencies were selected or rejected on sustainability measures (rather than price) from procurement decisions last year; (d) What steps is government taking beyond having policies to address sustainability risks in their supply chains; (e) How many state government suppliers did not meet criteria for appointment in the government’s sustainable procurement policy and were subsequently rejected; (f) What proportion of each department’s spend has been analysed for sustainability related risks (including modern slavery); and (g) Which departments and agencies have started to assess their sustainability and modern slavery risks following the Act being introduced?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
22 October 2019
Response time
6 days
(a) Legal advice has been received that most State Government entities are not subject to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth), including the Department of Finance. However, it is intended that Modern Slavery considerations are included in the Ethical Procurement project that the Department is progressing as part of a priority project with the Public Sector Reform Unit. As such, the Department has not yet undertaken a systematic assessment of its supply chains for the risk of modern slavery, either at the Department or whole-of-government level.
(b) At this time, the Department of Finance does not have funding allocated in relation to eliminating modern slavery in its supply chains, and is unaware of the funding allocation or timeframes of other government entities.
(c) State Government, goods and services, procurement decisions are made on the basis of value-for-money pursuant to the State Supply Commission Act 1991 and associated policy suite. Value-for-money considerations include both cost and non-cost considerations, such as sustainability. Often there is never a single reason for a procurement decision and as such, the State Government does not track the justification for why a procurement decision was made and is unable to provide quantitative data to address this question.
(d) As stated in the response to (a), the Department of Finance is responsible for the development of an Ethical Procurement framework for the State. Furthermore, opportunities to monitor supplier performance via the State’s procurement processes are being explored. This is intended to provide the State with a means of ensuring government enters into contracts with ethically and environmentally responsible suppliers.
(e) The Department of Finance does not gather information for itself, or on behalf of the State, on how many suppliers were selected or rejected on the basis of sustainability measures.
(f) The Department of Finance has not undertaken comprehensive spend analysis for the purpose of identifying modern slavery risks or other sustainability related risks. At this point, the Department is unaware which government entities have undertaken spend analysis for this purpose.
(g) As stated in the response to (a), many State Government entities are not subject to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth). At this point, the Department of Finance is unaware of which government entities have started to assess their sustainability and modern slavery risks. When planning individual contracts, the Department of Finance determines the measures it will take to address sustainability considerations, such as ethical supply chains.
(b) At this time, the Department of Finance does not have funding allocated in relation to eliminating modern slavery in its supply chains, and is unaware of the funding allocation or timeframes of other government entities.
(c) State Government, goods and services, procurement decisions are made on the basis of value-for-money pursuant to the State Supply Commission Act 1991 and associated policy suite. Value-for-money considerations include both cost and non-cost considerations, such as sustainability. Often there is never a single reason for a procurement decision and as such, the State Government does not track the justification for why a procurement decision was made and is unable to provide quantitative data to address this question.
(d) As stated in the response to (a), the Department of Finance is responsible for the development of an Ethical Procurement framework for the State. Furthermore, opportunities to monitor supplier performance via the State’s procurement processes are being explored. This is intended to provide the State with a means of ensuring government enters into contracts with ethically and environmentally responsible suppliers.
(e) The Department of Finance does not gather information for itself, or on behalf of the State, on how many suppliers were selected or rejected on the basis of sustainability measures.
(f) The Department of Finance has not undertaken comprehensive spend analysis for the purpose of identifying modern slavery risks or other sustainability related risks. At this point, the Department is unaware which government entities have undertaken spend analysis for this purpose.
(g) As stated in the response to (a), many State Government entities are not subject to the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth). At this point, the Department of Finance is unaware of which government entities have started to assess their sustainability and modern slavery risks. When planning individual contracts, the Department of Finance determines the measures it will take to address sustainability considerations, such as ethical supply chains.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.