Modern Slavery Statement FY 2023/24

Gilbert + Tobin acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which it operates, the Gadigal peoples (Sydney), the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation (Melbourne) and the Whadjuk Noongar peoples (Perth). G+T pays respect to Elders past and present. G+T also acknowledges the continued spiritual and physical connection of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri and Whadjuk Noongar to their lands and waters, known as Country.

A message from Gilbert + Tobin’s CEO on behalf of the G+T reporting entities

We know that championing the human rights of all has never been more important. Slavery was the first human rights issue to arouse wide international concern. While it may now take different forms, the latest figures published by the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation show there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history.

This modern slavery statement – our fourth – outlines the steps that we have taken during the year and the plans for the next phase of our response to modern slavery.

Sam Nickless (November 2023) CEO & Partner

Signed on behalf of all reporting entities

1. Overview

Modern slavery is an abhorrent practice and one which all levels of society have a responsibility to eliminate.

The most recent Global Slavery Index[1], published by Walk Free estimates that there were 49.6 million people living in situations of modern slavery on any given day in 2021, either forced to work against their will or in a marriage into which they were forced.

Alarmingly, the numbers are growing. There were almost 10 million more men, women and children experiencing modern slavery in 2021 compared with 2016. This includes an estimated 41,000 people in Australia currently living with modern slavery.

At Gilbert + Tobin we aim to be an outstanding corporate citizen. Our commitment to being an outstanding corporate citizen means we are deeply conscious of our responsibilities and opportunities. This starts with our professional obligations but extends more broadly, given the nature of the work that we do as a leading Australian law firm.

Law firms have an important role to play as part of Australia’s overall ecosystem. Through their roles advising public and private companies, governments and government agencies, not-for- profit organisations and individuals, law firms play a critical role in the proper functioning of the justice system, the economy and society more broadly. Law firms are also employers of generations of lawyers and support staff and form a key part of the supply chain both as a consumer and provider of services.

Reducing the risk of modern slavery in our operations and supply chains remains an ongoing process. This year, we engaged modern slavery specialists, The Freedom Hub, to assist us develop a human-centred approach to modern slavery. While we did not identify any instances of modern slavery in our operations or supply chains, we are continuing to focus on improving our modern slavery risk management framework. We have committed to trialling a new assessment and management platform and to working directly with suppliers to improve our risk assessment and response in the next reporting period. We continue to focus on staff awareness and education as a key component in our response.

Reporting Entities

Gilbert + Tobin is an Australian partnership. This Modern Slavery Statement is made in compliance with section 14 of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (the Act) on behalf of D.T Gilbert & S Nickless & W.R Spain trading as Gilbert + Tobin (ABN 88 775 098 848) and the associated entities set out in Table 1.

The reporting entities are referred to collectively in this statement as ‘G+T’ (‘we’ / ‘us’ / ‘our’). This statement has been prepared in consultation with the associated entities set out in Table 1 and covers the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.

[1] The Global Slavery Index, Walk Free, 2023.

Table 1 List of Gilbert + Tobin’s associated entities

2. Our Structure, Operations and Supply Chain

Gilbert + Tobin is an independent Australian law firm, with over 900 partners and employees. The firm was founded in 1988 by Danny Gilbert and Tony Tobin as a small team of lawyers focused on providing excellent legal advice on high-profile, complex matters.

2.1 About us

Gilbert + Tobin is an independent Australian law firm, with over 900 partners and employees. The firm was founded in 1988 by Danny Gilbert and Tony Tobin as a small team of lawyers focused on providing excellent legal advice on high-profile, complex matters.

Gilbert + Tobin have had outstanding success since those early days. We are now recognised as a leading transaction, regulatory and disputes law firm. We handle some of the most complex transactions in Australia, advising acquirers, targets and financiers. We are trusted by clients on sensitive regulatory investigations and approvals, litigation and Royal Commissions.

Gilbert + Tobin provide legal services to corporations, governments, non-profits and other organisations on their most challenging issues. Our practice groups during the year were organised as Disputes & Investigations; Corporate Advisory; Competition & Regulation; Banking & Finance; Technology & Digital; Energy & Infrastructure; Intellectual Property; and Real Estate. In addition to legal services, we also provide consulting services to clients on inhouse legal operations and technology, through our G+T Innovate team.

Gilbert + Tobin has been committed to improving the human rights of all since the founding of the firm by Danny Gilbert and Tony Tobin in 1988. Since inception, pro bono work has been a vital part of who we are, what we stand for and what we do. The firm’s pro bono legal practice has a proud track record and human rights is one of the core focus areas of the practice group. Our commitment to pro bono legal services was informed by the strong view of the founding partners that legal service providers have responsibilities to the community to help ensure that our legal system is fair and accessible to all, and this view is shared firm-wide.

2.2 Our Operations

Gilbert + Tobin is an unincorporated partnership of 107 individuals and provides legal services. We operate in Australia only, through three offices located in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. We do not have any international locations; however, we regularly advise international clients and work closely with leading overseas law firms to support our clients.

The G+T group is governed by a board selected from among the partners of Gilbert + Tobin. Each of the associated entities in the group have their own board of directors.

D.T Gilbert & S Nickless & W.R Spain trading as Gilbert + Tobin (the partnership) employs all the firm’s admitted legal practitioner staff.

G&T Service Company Pty Ltd as trustee for the G&T Services Trust (G&T Service Company), provides operational services to support the partnership and employs most of the firm’s operational staff. G&T Service Company delivers its services, in part, through an outsourced arrangement with Elevate Services Limited, who provides services from a dedicated service centre based in India.

G&T Professional Service Company Pty Ltd as trustee for G&T Professional Service Unit Trust (G&T Professional Service Company), provides professional services to support the partnership and employs the firm’s Paralegals and GTDOCs Review Analysts.

G&T Premises Pty Ltd holds the group’s real estate leases and provides those services to the G+T group.

Table 2 Number of staff employed by each Gilbert + Tobin entity

2.3 Our Impact

G+T makes a strong contribution to the Australian economy, with over 853 full-time, part-time and casual employees at 30 June 2023. This includes an intake of 40 graduates this year.

G+T’s strategic ambition is ‘to be Australia’s leading transactions, regulatory and disputes firm, committed to outstanding corporate citizenship’.

Our lawyers are members of the Law Societies of NSW, Victoria, and Western Australia. Our firm is also a member of other associations including the Business Council of Australia, Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia and Australian Legal Sector Alliance. G&T Tax Services Pty Limited is a registered tax agent under the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 (Cth).

We are committed to outstanding citizenship. Our pro bono legal services have a proud track record, and we champion important causes, such as marriage equality, reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the referendum to include an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in the Australian Constitution. We value diversity, equity and inclusion, and have one of the highest proportions of women partners among major Australian law firms.

Gilbert + Tobin is also committed to helping our clients respond to their ESG risks. In 2022, we launched a dedicated Climate, Sustainability & ESG practice to work with clients across all sectors to understand their ESG issues, support their ESG strategies, and manage regulatory compliance risks. As Australia’s leading transactional firm, we have also seen the increasing importance that ESG plays in guiding investment decisions. Our team brings the same rigour we apply to all other investment due diligence to ESG due diligence. Our ESG Due Diligence Framework highlights for buyers the key ESG risks and opportunities. This enables key ESG risks and opportunities to be identified and taken into consideration in transaction decision-making, structuring, risk allocation and pricing, ESG score, ESG frameworks, and enabling our clients to develop clear pathways for mitigation of identified risks.

Our due diligence services also extend to human rights and sustainability due diligence for businesses and their supply chains, including applying and putting the UN Guiding Principles into practice.

2.4 Our Supply Chain

G+T mainly procures goods and services from suppliers based in Australia. Our major procurement categories are set out in Figure 1. We note there have been no major changes to our supply chain since last year.

Excluding legal services disbursements, this year Gilbert + Tobin used over 800 suppliers and approximately 87% of spend was with a core group of 100 suppliers.

Figure 1 Gilbert + Tobin’s major procurement categories

2.5 Offshore Outsourced Services

Gilbert + Tobin’s direct overseas supply chain includes two offshore vendors, located in India and South Africa. Elevate Services in India have a substantial team of people supporting our business with technology, finance and marketing support and document review. Exigent in South Africa provide word processing services on an ad hoc basis.

3. Our Modern Slavery Risks

Gilbert + Tobin did not identify any specific instances of modern slavery harm this year. However, we have identified several areas of risk within our operations and supply chain where risk factors for modern slavery exist.

These risk areas were informed by a modern slavery risk review conducted in FY2023, using desktop review of modern slavery data and due diligence related documentation. The assessment of modern slavery risks was overseen by G+T’s Risk Committee. This committee comprises the accountable heads of operational functions (technology, human resources, marketing, finance), representative partners of the firm, the Chairman, Executive Partner, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Risk Officer (CRO).

The Risk Committee commissioned a risk-based analysis of our expenditure to identify areas of modern slavery risk. The process involved assessing the modern slavery risks of the firm’s top 100 suppliers (by spend) based on the type of product or service provided, the geography of supply, and any known supplier- specific issues. This assessment identified the areas of risk as set out in Figure 2 (below).

Our desktop review found that the risk of all forms of modern slavery has been heightened in recent years by compounding crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts and climate change, resulting in serious disruption to employment and education, increases in extreme poverty and forced and unsafe migration, and an increase in reports of gender-based violence (Global Estimates of Modern Slavery Report) [1].

The Australian Government’s review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth)[2], three years into its operation, identified poverty, economic shocks, gender inequality, exploitative business practices, and weak governance and regulatory inadequacy in other countries are key drivers of modern slavery. The review further noted:

“Through those forces, modern slavery has become embedded in the global economy – often hidden in what is dubbed the informal economy. There is a strong commercial incentive for businesses to search worldwide for low-priced products, components, and labour services. Underpaid and exploited labour in one country can yield lower-priced goods and services in another country.”[3]

Gilbert + Tobin used the Global Slavery Index[4] and Global Estimates of Modern Slavery Report[5] to identify countries of higher risk and sectors of higher risk within those countries.

[1] Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage, International Labour Organization, Walk Free and the International Organization for Migration, September 2022
[2] Report of the Statutory Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth), Commonwealth of Australia, July 2023.
[3] See footnote 3.
[4] See footnote 1.
[5] See footnote 2.

Figure 2 Gilbert + Tobin’s identified areas of modern slavery risk in our operations and supply chain

3.1 Operations

(a) Alliances

The firms that Gilbert + Tobin allies itself with may use business practices not aligned with G+T’s expectations and requirements in relation to managing modern slavery risk.

(b) Clients

Gilbert + Tobin’s core business is the provision of legal services to clients. If clients are engaged in or associated with modern slavery in their operations or supply chains, Gilbert + Tobin might be unintentionally linked to such practices through the provision of our legal services to the client.

(c) Offshore vendors

Gilbert + Tobin has service agreements in place with two offshore vendors that provide, technology, finance and marketing support, document review, and word processing services. These vendors are based in India and South Africa.

Gilbert + Tobin has identified that the countries in which these suppliers operate have a higher risk of potential modern slavery based on the presence of factors including political instability, poverty, the displacement of people due to conflict and climate change, and discrimination on the basis of gender, race, caste and ethnicity (Global Slavery Index).

(d) Contingent workforce

Our arrangements with offshore vendors facilitate contingent workforce requirements to meet service demands.

3.2 Supply Chain

Most of our suppliers are Australian based. However, many of these suppliers themselves source goods or services from overseas. Some of these are from locations that may be more at risk of modern slavery. We recognise that the risks may be at the second or third stage removed from the party with which we have contracted.

3.3 Facilities Management

Our expenditure on facilities is significant. Given the nature of some of the services provided, it presents some of the most important modern slavery risks.

Cleaning services are recognised as key risk sector for modern slavery in Australia[1]. The industry is particularly susceptible to the exploitation of workers largely due to:

• the demographic vulnerability of the workers commonly employed as cleaners, many of whom may be on temporary visa; and

• the complex employment chains and contracting arrangements (often in multiple tiers) which may obscure labour conditions.

Similar risks exist in other facilities services, such as maintenance contracts for plants and office equipment, as well as couriers.

3.4 Outsourced Teams

Where third parties are providing the services of individuals to us under an outsourced arrangement, there is a risk of modern slavery issues with the employment of those individuals. This risk is heightened where the supply is from overseas, outside our immediate physical presence, and from countries where there are higher risk factors.

3.5 Merchandise

Our marketing function involves the purchase of branded goods, including stationery items, clothing and other giftware. These types of products can be higher risk because of the nature of their manufacture, including mass production at low cost in countries that may have a higher risk of modern slavery.

3.6 Technology Hardware

Electronic goods such as computers, telephones, printers, screens, cables and other peripheral devices pose risks of modern slavery because of their complex and global supply chains. This applies to the sourcing of raw materials and the manufacturing and logistics processes along the supply chain.

3.7 Hospitality Services

Due to the nature of the work involved in the production, processing, packaging and transport of food and produce, these supply chains have an elevated risk of modern slavery. In Australia, forced labour predominantly occurs in high-risk industries reliant on migrant workers who enter Australia on temporary visas including agriculture, construction, domestic work, meat processing, cleaning, hospitality and food services (Global Slavery Index).

[1] “Wage theft? What wage theft?! The exploitation of general and specialist cleaners working in retail chains for contracting or subcontracting cleaning companies”, The Senate Education and Employment References Committee, November 2018.

4. Our Actions to Assess Modern Slavery Risks in FY2023

This section sets out the actions we have taken to assess and address modern slavery risks in our operations and supply chain this year.

4.1 Resourcing Our Modern Slavery Commitments

This year our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team and our Risk team worked closely together to implement the firm’s modern slavery approach. Both teams welcomed additional resources this year with the recruitment of the firm’s first Sustainability Analyst and Chief Risk Officer. These roles are both involved in the operationalisation of our approach to modern slavery.

The assessment of modern slavery risks was overseen by G+T’s Risk Committee. This committee comprises the accountable heads of operational functions (technology, human resources, marketing and business development, finance), representative partners of the firm, the Chairman, Executive Partner, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Risk Officer (CRO).

The firm also engaged anti-slavery non-profit The Freedom Hub to review and provide feedback on our 2022 Modern Slavery Statement and to provide advice to our Chief Risk Officer in relation to a site-visit to one the firm’s outsourced suppliers. The firm also committed funds to pilot The Freedom Hub’s RAMP supplier modern slavery risk assessment platform in FY2024.

4.2 Supplier Rationalisation + Onshoring Supplier Onboarding Process

Gilbert + Tobin has a decentralised approach to procurement with a significant number of staff authorised to make purchases, resulting in a large catalogue of small suppliers, which may increase the risks of modern slavery in our supply chain.

This year we continued the process of centralising information and record keeping of suppliers and endeavouring to rationalise the number of suppliers for each procurement category. This year we also brought our supplier onboarding process back onshore, as part of a wider transfer onshore of the entire office accounts payable process.

We continued to develop our supplier onboarding process and as part of the updated process, G+T now requires suppliers formally to acknowledge our Supplier Code of Conduct and to complete our modern slavery questionnaire or provide a copy of their Modern Slavery Statement, with some exceptions for small businesses.

Our business transformation team is continuing to work on enhancing our supplier onboarding process, including the firm’s response to modern slavery risk.

4.3 Due Diligence: Supply Chain

Gilbert + Tobin has established processes for assessing and monitoring modern slavery risk in our supply chain. Our Procurement and Risk teams continued to operationalise our Supplier Modern Slavery due diligence program, as set out in previous modern slavery statements.

In previous years we undertook due diligence in relation to our top 100 suppliers by spend only, using our modern slavery questionnaire or by reviewing our suppliers’ modern slavery statements. This year we took the following steps to assess our suppliers:

• Issued the firm’s modern slavery questionnaire to the firm’s top 100 suppliers (by spend) using compliance management platform, 6clicks. Of our top 100 suppliers, 81 suppliers have either responded to the G+T questionnaire (37 suppliers) or have issued a Modern Slavery Statement (a further 44 suppliers).

• Assessed the responses of the 40 suppliers who responded to the modern slavery questionnaire and no issues were identified.

• Of those who did not respond to our modern slavery questionnaire, we confirmed that an additional 44 have modern slavery statements in place. Where a supplier had already made public its own Modern Slavery Statement, we did not seek to have that supplier complete our modern slavery questionnaire. Next year we aim to review these modern slavery statements to provide further context.

• The annual assessment of our top 100 suppliers (by spend) shows that 24 have changed and of those that have changed, we have received 11 responses to our modern slavery questionnaire in FY23 and have confirmed that a further 8 have a Modern Slavery Statement.

In relation to the areas of our supply chain identified as being of higher risk, the following due diligence was undertaken:

• Hospitality services: G+T has seven catering suppliers in its top 100 suppliers (by spend). We have issued modern slavery questionnaires to four of these suppliers. Two suppliers responded and we have confirmed that one supplier has issued a modern slavery statement.

• Technology hardware: Of our three key technology suppliers, one supplier completed our modern slavery questionnaire in FY2023 and no modern slavery risks were identified. Two suppliers did not complete the questionnaire but have a modern slavery statement. Their modern slavery statement was reviewed and demonstrated that the supplier has systems in place to manage modern slavery risks.

• Facilities management: Gilbert + Tobin has three key facilities suppliers – Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) (NSW), Jones Lang LaSalle (VIC) and Brookfield. Both Jones Lang LaSalle entities and Brookfield have Modern Slavery Statements on their websites. We have reviewed their Modern Slavery Statements and confirmed that these suppliers have all implemented systems for managing modern risks within their business and supply chains.

In the next financial year, we intend to commence a pilot of The Freedom Hub’s Risk Assessment and Management Platform (RAMP), a risk management tool to enhance our collaboration with suppliers in our response to modern slavery risk and controls. The technology is backed by The Freedom Hub’s modern slavery expertise. We have identified key suppliers to work with in the initial phase of the pilot and will work closely with them throughout the risk assessment and management process. The Freedom Hub will deliver specialist training to the selected suppliers to improve their awareness of modern slavery issues and to assist them in their modern slavery response.

4.4 Management Controls

(a) Facilities

Facilities are an area of heightened risk of modern slavery in Australia, given the nature of the sector (see section 3.3). Our offices are all housed within buildings that are owned and operated by top-tier landlords, from whom we source much of these services. We have strong and continuing engagement with our landlords on this issue to understand and address any such risks.

(b) Outsourced teams

While this was an area that warranted attention, we assessed the risks of modern slavery in this situation as low, given the substantial, regular engagement that we have with the suppliers we use for these services, Elevate and Exigent. Both suppliers are reputable top-tier suppliers of these services, with headquarters in the US and UK respectively. Our agreements with them are subject to terms relating to working conditions and treatment of their staff.

This year the firm’s Chief Information and Security Officer carried out one on-site visit to the Elevate premises in India. No issues were identified during this visit and an inspection report was delivered to the Risk Committee with a clean outcome. There were no complaints or disclosures through any channels, including our confidential whistle-blower platform Whisplii, from Elevate and Exigent staff.

Senior managers from G+T are responsible for interacting with and managing the Elevate and Exigent teams and know the outsourced staff and regularly meet with them on video and audio calls. These dedicated outsourced staff have access to G+T communications in the same way as our Australian-based staff.

They have access to G+T’s whistle-blower channels and protections and receive the same training and information on their availability.

The market for people with the skills of these staff is competitive, particularly in India. Turnover occurs on a regular basis as opportunities emerge, indicating free movement for these staff.

(c) Technology hardware

This is a difficult area of risk that almost all businesses will face. G+T is a relatively small customer of the suppliers of this equipment. Addressing this risk will require coordinated, global actions from governments and all participants in the supply chain. For our part, we are focusing on ensuring our purchases are from top-tier reputable suppliers and engaging with those suppliers to better understand their supply chains and approaches to addressing the risks of modern slavery.

(d) Merchandise

Over the past few years, we have focused on rationalising our suppliers for this type of purchase and ensuring that all procurement is done through a centralised marketing function. The greatest risk would be from individuals making their own purchases or orders from suppliers where the same level of inquiry would not have been completed.

The current approach requires all staff to only purchase such merchandise through an online portal with a single supplier, that has provided us with their Social Compliance Policy which assures us that they are compliant and monitor the modern slavery risks in their own supply chain. We recognise this part of our supply chain as having particular risk and will be monitoring suppliers’ compliance with our policy documents closely.

4.5 Capability Building

We have engaged modern slavery specialist consultancy and social enterprise, The Freedom Hub to assist with our modern slavery risk assessment and response.

In FY2023, The Freedom Hub delivered interactive modern slavery training to 40 staff, all directly involved in making procurement decisions. The topics covered by this training session included:

• Modern slavery worldwide,

• Modern slavery in everyday products,

• International responses,

• The Australian Modern Slavery Act,

• What is modern slavery,

• Who must comply,

• Requirements for compliance,

• Identifying modern slavery risks, and

• Understanding the risk exposure.

This session was delivered in person and online and a recording was also added to our learning platform to ensure it reached the widest audience possible.

We will continue to review our training sessions annually and make amendments to ensure that it is current and that all changes are made to meet the changes in the legislation.

5. Assessment Of Effectiveness

We will continue to review our policies and procedures to ensure that we are effectively monitoring and assessing any risks in our operations and with our suppliers. This will involve consideration of stakeholder engagement with our policy documents and procedures. We will update these policies and procedures where appropriate following such review, or in response to changes and developments relating to modern slavery risks more broadly. In the next reporting period, we will implement a periodic update on modern slavery risks to the firm’s risk committee.

6. Consultation

All of G+T’s associated entities have been made aware of the Act’s requirements and these have been endorsed by the various boards.

G+T’s CEO contributed to the development of this Modern Slavery Statement and is a director of the majority of G+T’s entities. The CEO has engaged with senior leaders of the G+T entities, and notified the various boards of their entity requirements, which has been endorsed by these boards.

Approval

This Modern Slavery Statement was approved by the board of the Gilbert + Tobin partnership on 12 December 2023. The Boards of the other entities listed in Table 1 then subsequently have adopted this Modern Slavery Statement for their operations.

Approved by G+T Board: 12 December 2023

Signed by

Name: Samuel Nickless

Title: Chief Executive Officer of Gilbert + Tobin and Director of G&T Service Company Pty Ltd, G&T Consultants Pty Ltd, G&T Professional Service Company Pty Ltd, G&T Foundation Pty Ltd, G&T LegalTech Solutions Pty Limited, G&T Tax Services Pty Limited, and G&T Capital Services Pty Ltd

Date: 12 December 2023