CANBERRA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australia requires a host of new laws to counter modern slavery, a government report has found.
The Joint Standing Committee established to study modern slavery in Australia delivered its final report on Thursday night including 49 recommendations to stamp out the practice.
The report, titled Hidden in Plain Sight, called for the creation of an independent anti-slavery commissioner based on a similar role in Britain.
More than 4,000 people in Australia are victims of modern slavery, primarily migrant agricultural workers.
The inquiry called for it to be made compulsory for companies with revenues exceeding 37.5 million U.S. dollars annually to prove they are not profiting or gaining a competitive advantage from slavery in their supply chain.
The threshold was half the 75 million U.S. dollars previously recommended by the government.
Major supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles were used as an example with the inquiry saying they would need to prove that their suppliers were not exploiting labourers.
Chris Crewther, a government Member of Parliament (MP) and chair of the committee, described modern slavery as a "heinous" crime that must be stopped.
"Modern slavery describes some of the greatest crimes of our time," Crewther said while tabling the report in parliament.
"The recommendations from this inquiry make a significant contribution to ensuring that, here in Australia, we are doing all we can to eradicate these crimes.
"(These recommendations) will ensure there are not operators out there producing goods at a lower cost by doing the wrong thing, which puts out producers doing the right thing."
If adopted by the government, the report would also see a compensation scheme established for victims of modern slavery in Australia.
