Modern Slavery Statement
1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
Overview of New Horizons’ Modern Slavery Tracking.
At New Horizons, we are unwavering in our commitment to upholding the human rights of our people and the broader community. This dedication extends to actively combatting modern slavery within our operations and supply chains. We act ethically and with integrity at every level, ensuring business pursuits and core values go hand-in-hand. As a result, we are proud to report that the risk of modern slavery in our supply chain and operations has remained low during this Reporting Period. The reasons for this assessment are outlined in further detail in the Statement you can download at the bottom of this page.
We understand the importance of vigilance in identifying and addressing potential instances of modern slavery. Since its inception, we have matured the implementation of our Modern Slavery Framework across the organisation and reviewed the processes put in place in previous years to address these concerns. However, we recognise that the landscape is constantly evolving, and we remain committed to continuous improvement in our assessment and mitigation strategies.
For over 55 years, New Horizons has been dedicated to improving the well-being of thousands of individuals. As we continue to grow and evolve, our dedication to ethical business practices and the fight against modern slavery will remain at the core of our organisational values. We are constantly seeking opportunities to provide essential services where others are unable to, and in doing so will continue to be transparent in our efforts.
Geographic risk level: Low
We have assessed the geographic risk associated with modern slavery practices to be low during the Reporting Period given that 99% of our suppliers were based in Australia.
All our overseas suppliers are located in developed countries where there is a strong rule of law and protection of human rights, with countries such as Canada, United Kingdom and the United States of America also imposing reporting obligations in relation to Modern Slavery.
We have reviewed the location of our overseas suppliers against the Global Slavery Index and highlight that all the overseas suppliers engaged by New Horizons are based on countries that are considered to be at lower risk of modern slavery.
New Horizons understands that the lack of visibility in certain overseas markets carries additional risks of modern slavery especially in second and third tier levels of our chain.
Sector and industry risk level: Low
New Horizons operates in the Not-For-Profit sector and its services touch on a variety of other sectors including the healthcare, disability, aged, youth, housing and property sectors. As these sectors are heavily regulated in Australia, this generally allows for greater visibility over lower tier suppliers and as such, we consider our sector and industry level risk remained low during the Reporting Period.
Notwithstanding this, New Horizons acknowledges that it may be linked to modern slavery practices of suppliers further down our supply chain in instances where second and third tier suppliers:
• operate in the technology manufacturing sector where vulnerable populations (typically low paid, low skilled workers) are used in mineral extractive operations and the assembly of electrical components and equipment of such products; and
• operate in the cleaning and maintenance sector which disproportionately engages workers from migrant backgrounds with English as their second language and low socioeconomic status.
Product and services risk: Low
As part of New Horizons’ operations, we predominantly rely on our non-trade suppliers for services such as cleaning, electricity, technology and general office and property maintenance.
New Horizons acknowledges that the nature of these services often involves suppliers engaging external contractors who are more likely to be of culturally diverse backgrounds and hold temporary work or immigration visas.
While New Horizons has assessed its product and services risk as remaining low in the Reporting Period, we acknowledge that the nature of these services which increases the risk of being linked to modern slavery practices.
Supply chain model risks: Low
Based on the information available to us, our supply chain model risk has been assessed as remaining low during the Reporting Period. We have a large and complex supply chain with over 500 suppliers during the Reporting Period.
Given our limited resources and the complexity of our supply chain, it is difficult to monitor the modern slavery practices of our direct and indirect suppliers which increases the risk that New Horizons may be linked to modern slavery practices.
We have continued to mitigate this risk through our due diligence efforts explained further in section 4 of New Horizons' Modern Slavery Statement, which you can download in full below.