ACCAN recently submitted to the ACCC regarding an authorisation application for members of the Telco Together Foundation (TTF) to work collaboratively to reduce modern slavery.

The authorisation would allow TTF members to engage in conduct that would normally be viewed as anticompetitive and illegal. Under the authorisation, collaborative conduct would be allowed in relation to specific activities necessary to identify and address modern slavery within telecommunications industry supply chains.

ACCAN is supportive of the efforts of TTF and its members to reduce instances of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains. However, in our submission we raised some concerns with the authorisation application, including:

• which telcos are covered by the authorisation,
• which telcos are participating in the activities,
• the transparency of information in the application, and
• how conduct would be monitored by the ACCC.

ACCAN believes more specific information would be useful in terms of understanding what public benefits could be achieved through the authorisation that wouldn’t be possible if the telcos continued working independently on this issue.

Download:  ACCAN submission - TTF Authorisation Application87.83 KB
Download:  ACCAN submission - TTF Authorisation Application179.87 KB