Purpose: The current study examines how Big 4 accounting firms and professional accounting bodies: Certified Practising Accountants (CPA) Australia and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), participate in modern slavery regulatory intervention by demonstrating their legitimacy and altruism.

Design/methodology/approach: Our sample includes ten submissions comprising 107 pages of documents made by two professional accounting bodies and the Big 4 accounting firms. We use the thematic analysis to analyse the responses from these six accounting firms and institutes.

Findings: From an institutional legitimacy perspective, the results reveal a cohesive alignment of the accounting profession with compliance towards modern slavery intervention legislation. From the value orientation perspective, submitting entities exhibit a mix of 'egoistic-altruistic' behaviour during the consultation process, indicating mixed motivations rather than a firm commitment to combat modern slavery. Overall, the analysis provides an understanding of the responses of the accounting profession to modern slavery legislation: their support for the cause and their strategic positioning within the evolving regulatory landscape.

Originality: This research provides insights into the role of the accounting profession in addressing modern slavery, triggering a broader discussion on how the profession can contribute to societal change by proactively enforcing ethical labour practices in organisations. Policy makers may be cautious about the the voices of the accounting profession and whether this profession should (or should not) be charged with proactively seeking to eradicate modern slaveries by their clients.

Keywords: Modern Slavery, Accounting, Policy participation, Legitimacy, Altruism