Most modern slavery programs are strong on mapping and weak on verification. Risk registers, supplier questionnaires and statements describe what should be happening; on-site work establishes what is. Ethara covers both ends — building the due diligence system, and putting an experienced auditor on the ground to test it.
Advisory and program work
Risk assessment & supply chain due diligence
Modern slavery risk assessment across operations and supply chain, with practical risk segmentation that focuses effort where it matters. Aligned to the Act as it stands and the mandatory due diligence framework it’s becoming.
Modern Slavery Statement preparation & review
Drafting and refining annual statements against the s.16 mandatory criteria — including governing-body approval support and submission to the Online Register. Statements written to survive scrutiny, not just satisfy a checklist.
Supplier audit program design
Scoping, prioritisation, escalation and remediation pathways — a program that tells you which suppliers to look at, in what order, and what happens when something is found.
Gap analysis & audit preparation
For sites facing a SMETA or customer audit: a pre-audit review of systems, records and conditions against what the auditor will actually test — so audit day holds no surprises.
Sedex & SAQ support
You hold the Sedex membership; Ethara makes it work. Help completing and improving SAQ responses, reading and interpreting audit reports, disputing findings where they’re wrong, and closing out non-conformances properly.
Remediation planning & supplier capability building
When indicators of modern slavery or labour exploitation are identified: remediation planning that puts affected workers first, corrective action support, and building supplier capability so the fix holds.
On-site verification and audit
On-site verification visits
Worker interviews, document review and conditions assessment — reported in plain language with findings you can act on. The verification work most programs are missing.
Supplier audit delivery
Due diligence audits of your suppliers across Australia and New Zealand — scoped to your program, your code of conduct or a recognised methodology.
Accredited SMETA audits (2-Pillar and 4-Pillar)
Including the new SMETA Service Provider Audits. Delivered through Ethara’s partnerships with Sedex-approved Audit Affiliate Companies (AACs). If an audit is sought, please contact me and I will refer you to the applicable AAC. NB: for businesses where formal consultancy is provided, I am unable to conduct the audit.
Tailored due diligence
Standardised audits — SMETA, Fair Farms — will always have their place: they give buyers a recognised, comparable baseline. But a checklist built for everyone can’t flex to the specific risks in a given supply chain. Increasingly, buyers want a due diligence assessment scoped to their operation, their suppliers and their obligations — and that is verification work, delivered directly.
A framework built for your business
Drawing on years of designing audit and compliance frameworks, Ethara can build a due diligence framework around your risk profile, supply chain and reporting obligations — so your program assesses what actually matters, not what a generic template happens to cover.
A tailored assessment, ready to run
Where you’d rather not build from scratch, Ethara brings a structured due diligence instrument and runs it against your operation and suppliers — delivered as a clear, actionable report with findings, risk ratings and remediation steps you can move on.
Note: tailored due diligence is advisory and verification work Ethara delivers directly. It is distinct from accredited SMETA audits, which remain structurally separated and are delivered through Sedex-approved Audit Affiliate Companies (AACs).
Who this is for
Reporting entities under the Modern Slavery Act, Sedex members and their suppliers, and any organisation whose customers are starting to ask harder questions, or who simply want due diligence over their supply chain. Engagements range from a single site verification to a full supplier audit program.
The Ethara CSR Suite
This work runs on the Ethara CSR Suite — the productised SMETA 7 4-Pillar compliance system built for Australian operating contexts. The Modern Slavery Statement Template, Living Wage Methodology Plan and Child Labour Policy on the free downloads page are extracts from this Suite — current, working documents, not marketing samples.
Labour · Health & Safety · Environment · Business Ethics
from forced labour to business ethics
policies, registers, plans & checklists
audit & compliance
ESG sustainability strategy and climate-reporting readiness questions often sit alongside this work. Where they’re material to a modern slavery or social compliance engagement, they’re handled within it; where they’re a standalone need, Ethara will say so and point you to the right specialist.