More than 300 suppliers attend HSV modern slavery information sessions

HSV is supporting suppliers to understand their obligations under the Modern Slavery Act, the Victorian Supplier Code of Conduct and HSV Collective Agreements by hosting online supplier information sessions.

The information sessions first ran in October and November 2023 as part of an education program aimed at ensuring suppliers were aware of the Act and their obligations under it, together with resources to help them manage risk. The program includes a risk assessment questionnaire and resources available on our website.

Modern slavery refers to situations where offenders use coercion, threats, or deception to exploit people and undermine their freedom. Global estimates suggest there are 50 million people living in conditions of modern slavery throughout the world, and we know that health service supply chains are at risk.

Under the Act, health services with an annual consolidated revenue of at least AU$100 million are required to submit an annual Modern Slavery Statement to the Australian Government. Further, under our collective agreements they are required to declare they are compliant with the Victorian Government’s Supplier Code.

“We know that health services and our suppliers want to do the right thing and mitigate the risk of modern slavery,” says John Delinaoum, HSV Executive Director Finance, Risk and Governance.

“We already have a Modern Slavery Community of Learning Program for health services, and we also saw an opportunity to increase supplier understanding of the Act and their contractual obligations. We developed these one-of-a-kind information sessions to provide content specifically for suppliers about what we expect of them,” John says.

“The response has been great. Suppliers who were initially unable to attend have contacted us directly to ask if we are running additional sessions.”

To date over 300 suppliers have attended the sessions, and due to high demand, additional events will be held again in March.

“These sessions give health services some level of assurance that the suppliers we engage are striving to meet their obligations,” John says.

More information about modern slavery risk is available on the HSV website.