News

APPA is proud to announce a new partnership with Sydney-based Modern Slavery consultancy firm Unchained Solutions.

APPA members will be able to enlist the services of Unchained Solutions over the next few months to better equip themselves with the necessary tools and resources to address Modern Slavery and maintain relationships with their corporate clients.

The risk of Modern Slavery is more prevalent in 2023 than ever before, with the latest statistics from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) increasing the number of people impacted by Modern Slavery from an estimated 40 million people in 2016 to approximately 50 million people in 2021. According to the ILO, the Asia Pacific region has upwards of 15.1 million people working in factories, on farms or in fisheries, the highest number of any region worldwide.

The game has shifted over the past three years. Clients are asking distributers to not only have a policy portfolio that is relevant to human rights and sustainability, but also to have a comprehensive understanding of who their suppliers really are and to start tracking these suppliers’ credentials.

While the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) specifically calls upon big business to take action on modern slavery, there is a role for small businesses to play in making a positive and lasting social impact.

APPA members will benefit from APPA’s partnership with Unchained Solutions in a number of different ways:

1. Two lunch-time Modern Slavery Awareness Workshops (virtual) to help APPA members understand the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) and what steps they can take to satisfy their corporate client’s expectations (9 March and 25 May)
2. Two lunch-time Modern Slavery Skills Training Workshops (virtual) to focus on key areas of modern slavery due diligence:
   how to develop and implement a policy portfolio for responsible business practices (11 May) and how to identify and assess the risk of Modern Slavery among your suppliers (8 June).
3. Discounted offer to join the Unchained Membership Portal designed for small businesses to access templates, insight papers, live events and discounted e-learning modules.
4. Discounted offer to the Unchained Modern Slavery E-Learning Modules (a set of six modules to train your team on modern slavery due diligence). Modules are sold separately or as a package.

APPA members can capitalise on the Association’s new partnership with Unchained Solutions by accessing a range of free and paid Policy Templates. More information about this exclusive member benefit will be sent to APPA members in the coming weeks.

The team at Unchained Solutions look forward to collaborating with APPA members to tackle the issue of Modern Slavery together, and to slowly but surely make a real difference to the lives of workers across the globe.

APPA members- be sure to keep an eye on your email inbox in the coming weeks for more information about APPA's new partnership with Unchained Solutions.

Unchained Solutions is a professional services firm based in Macquarie Park, Sydney. Unchained Solutions inspires Australian organisations to be leaders in making an impact on modern slavery. For more information on Unchained Solutions please visit http://unchainedsolutions.com.au.