Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week, the Minister for Home Affairs and Justice Brendan O'Connor visited my electorate of Melbourne Ports and a well known institution the Kilbride Centre in Beaconsfield Parade to announce $350,000 of funding over the next three years for Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans, ACRATH, to support their anti human-trafficking efforts. As the media reported, some of the funding is being provided from criminal assets confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The member for Gorton joined me on a visit to the head office of ACRATH in Albert Park to make one of the three announcements of government assistance to people involved in the noble effort to fight slavery and human trafficking. I must make the point that the minister's efforts and the announcements were made before the Age and Four Corners caught up with what the government is already doing in fighting this nefarious activity.

ACRATH assists victims of human trafficking and slavery with housing, financial compensation, access to English classes and vocational education. It provides education and community awareness campaigns, with a focus on young people from diverse communities. The significant initiatives by ACRATH to build links with organisations in our region are particularly important—as is their work in assisting migrant groups that are vulnerable to exploitation, such as people from the Philippines, Taiwan or China—and essential in the fight against the this new phenomena of human trafficking.

I want to congratulate the ACRATH team on the tremendously important and sensitive work they do in assisting those who are victims of slavery and human trafficking. I would especially to thank Sister Louise Cleary, chairperson; Carol Hogan, national secretary; Christine Carolan, program coordinator; Shane Wood, volunteer; Brother Shane Maloney; Therese Power; Jeffrey Dalton; and Denise Mulcahy, who hosted us and who runs the Kilbride Centre. I commend them on their support and on the services they provide.

Slavery and human trafficking are a blight on humanity's soul. Those who are subject to such crimes deserve the equality of freedom the rest of us enjoy and they should have our support. Through partnership with community organisations such as ACRATH, the government is making a determined effort to end this unnecessary suffering of our fellow human beings. The Catholic religious workers seeking to eliminate people-trafficking to Australia, the Pacific and internationally are, in my view, doing work of the highest order.

This grant announced by the minister will help ACRATH to raise community awareness, and to build networks nationally and globally. Some of the information we had from the Solomons was very interesting. Through religious networks, ACRATH is able to do very valuable work that sometimes even more official organisations such as governments cannot do. NGOs such as ACRATH are invaluable resources for trafficked people, providing outreach support services and advocacy.

In 2008, the United Nations estimated 2.5 million people from 127 different countries had been trafficked to another 137 countries around the world. Almost 20 per cent of these trafficking victims were children. In some parts of Africa and the Mekong region, children are the majority of victims. In West Africa they accounted for up to 100 per cent of victims. In November last year, the Gillard government announced $1.4 million to support four non-government organisations to deliver important anti people-trafficking activities, including community education and victim support. The government also announced $200,000 to support projects that target labour exploitation. Since 2003, the Australian government, under both Liberal and Labor leaderships, has provided $50 million to support anti-trafficking initiatives, including specialist investigative teams within the Australian Federal police—and, boy, do they have work to do, as the media revelations have uncovered, particularly in the Solomons, Taiwan and China.

Enough cannot be said of the significant worth of organisations like ACRATH to help pick up those who have been left in the dark and to assist them to achieve their hopes and talents. To the countless men and women who show compassion and care for those who are subject to this kind of crime, we thank you.

The Australian government is doing its part to combat the crimes of slavery and human trafficking. I thank the member for Gorton for his efforts and I salute the selfless quiet work of our Catholic religious folk in my electorate working to minimise the effects of this nefarious trade. (Time expired)

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