Modern Slavery Statement
Reporting Period 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022
ABOUT US
The George Institute for Global Health (ABN 90 085 953 331) (The George Institute) is a leading independent global medical research institute established and headquartered in Sydney, Australia with major centres in China, India and the UK, other countries and an international network of experts and collaborators. The George Institute, together with all its subsidiaries, employs over 750 employees across the globe.
Our mission is to improve the health of millions of people worldwide, particularly those living in disadvantaged circumstances, by challenging the status quo and using innovative approaches to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases and injury. Our commercial subsidiaries aim to commercialise the research of The George Institute to provide not only fast, affordable, simple and scalable new treatments for patients, but also exciting investment opportunities combining strong commercial returns with real social impact.
The George Institute conducts its operations with integrity, credibility, social responsibility and accountability. With the mission of improving the health of millions of people worldwide, The George Institute is committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all its business dealings and relationships, including ensuring modern slavery is not occurring in its own business or supply chains.
The George Institute is the reporting entity for the purposes of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (Modern Slavery Act), having met the reporting threshold in the reporting period.
OUR SUPPLY CHAINS
The George Institute engages with small and medium size suppliers for the majority of our local supplies and requirements (for example office supplies and equipment), whilst we rely on large multi-national suppliers for finance and technology infrastructure and services globally.
We have never been made aware of any activities involving either of our business or our supply chain that would give concern or risk in relation to modern slavery issue. We consider the risk of modern slavery within our business or supply chains to be low.
OUR POLICIES
We have a number of internal policies to ensure our operations are conducted with integrity, credibility, social responsibility and accountability. These include:
- Modern Slavery Policy and Procedure - This Policy sets clear expectations of our zero-tolerance towards modern slavery and all staff are required to adhere to and implement effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or in any of our supply chains. We have implemented a Standard Operating Procedure and updated our associated policy and procedure in the recruitment process and procurement of goods and services to combat modern slavery risk.
- Recruitment and Selection Policy & Procedure - We maintain a robust recruitment process in recruiting talented people to join our organisation, including conducting eligibility to work checks to safeguard against human trafficking or forced labour.
- Due Diligence -We have updated our due diligence process to check our suppliers’ practices to ensure they have processes in place to combat modern slavery risk and adhere to the Modern Slavery Act.
- Whistleblower Policy - Our whistleblowing policy provides a platform for our employees and any external person to raise or report any concerns or suspicion of modern slavery in any parts of our business or our supply chains in an anonymous manner without fear of reprisals.
CURRENT REPORTING PERIOD
With the enactment of the Modern Slavery Act, we have implemented the following measures:
- We have updated our Modern Slavery Policy to include reference to Whistleblower Policy. All new staff are required to read and understand our core policies, including our Code of Conduct and Modern Slavery Policy to ensure they are aware of their legal, regulatory and compliance responsibilities. Our policies are readily accessible on our local intranet webpage:
- We have published our Modern Slavery Statement 2020/2021 on our public-facing website;
- We have rolled out an e-learning course on modern slavery for our global staff, for both new and existing staff;
- All suppliers directly engaged are required to complete a due diligence questionnaire on modern slavery or have a Modern Slavery Statement;
- We have prepared anti-modern slavery clauses to incorporate into supplier contracts (where relevant and appropriate); and
- We have a Whistleblower Policy and external hotline available for all staff and external parties.
EVALUATION PROCESS
We continue to monitor the effectiveness of the processes to address modern slavery risks at The George Institute. We do this by:
- Consulting and gathering annual feedback from:
- Our Finance teams, on the conduct of due diligence checks on service providers using the Modern Slavery Checklist;
- Our Legal team, on the implementation of anti-modern slavery clauses in our supply contracts; and
- Our HR teams on practices and checks to prevent modern salary risks in the recruitment process.
- Gathering feedback and obtaining annual attestation on implementation of the measures from division heads before presenting the annual Modern Slavery Statement to the Board of Directors.
Based on these actions we will adapt and strengthen our actions to continually improve our response to modern slavery.
At the end of the reporting period (2021/2022), we did not identify any instances of modern slavery risk in our operations and our suppliers. We have also not received any complaints through our Whistleblower program on modern slavery risk.
CONSULTATION PROCESS
The George Institute as the holding company shares common policies and processes across its subsidiaries. We have our senior representation in our subsidiaries who join management and board meetings. We have engaged with all The George Institute group of companies in the development of the Modern Slavery Statement.
OUR PLANS FOR 2022/2023
During the next reporting period (2022/2023) we intend to:
1. Monitor and review our due diligence checks on suppliers and staff employment; and
2. Review our Modern Slavery Policy and relevant Standard Operating Procedures.
This statement was approved by our Board of Directors on 9 September 2022.