Making amends requires a lot less exploitation (9)

I believe the answer is:

expiation

'making amends' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a lot less exploitation' is the wordplay.
'less' suggests deleting specific letters.
'exploitation' with 'lot' taken out is 'EXPIATION'.

'requires' acts as a link.

(Another definition for expiation that I've seen is " Atonement".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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