Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Slavery is a very serious problem that many Australians would imagine has decreased in scope over the last years or decades or centuries. But in fact it's estimated that over 40 million people around the world are victims of modern slavery—a higher number of people trapped in slavery today than at any other time in human history, and two-thirds of those people are in our region. Slavery is supported by supply chains of products and services that many of us use every day. We know that modern slavery occurs in many forms—wage theft, dangerous and unpaid work, abuse, imprisonment and deprivation. It's vulnerable people, including foreign and seasonal workers, students, casualised and marginalised workers, and people with social, economic, language and cultural barriers, who are most at risk, and we know that many of these are women.

Labor's position on this is clear: we will not tolerate the exploitation of these workers and the human rights abuses that go along with this exploitation. Modern slavery is often obscured by those who profit from it. As a society, we won't be able to end it unless we have laws dedicated to preventing it and to stopping it and resources to support that legislation.

Last year, after lengthy consultation with advocates, activists and other stakeholders, Labor announced a modern slavery policy. I want to take a moment to recognise the extraordinary work of the shadow minister for justice, Clare O'Neil, in developing Labor's position. Clare really did terrific work in this area. Business, civil society and the union movement have all helped inform Labor's policy. Labor is committed to establishing a modern slavery act to make supply chains transparent, to apply penalties for noncompliance and to establish a statutory, independent antislavery commissioner. We called on the government to match our commitment.

Of course we support this legislation, but, sadly, this legislation does not match the commitments that Labor has made in this area. After significant pressure, the government brought forward this bill. The bill, sadly, does not adequately address all of the advice and information that Labor took into account when we developed our approach in this area. Most importantly, the bill doesn't provide for penalties for companies that breach the provisions within the bill, and the government has proposed a watered-down business engagement unit instead of establishing an independent antislavery commissioner. Those weaknesses in this bill are disappointing. The government has shown time and again that it is too weak to tackle important issues like this, especially when it comes to regulating the businesses that are profiting from modern slavery. We can and must do better.

Labor has moved amendments to this bill to introduce penalties for companies that fail to comply with the modern slavery act and we're also calling on the government to establish an office of an independent antislavery commissioner. Labor acknowledges the genuine passion that many in the business community have shown for this issue and the broad commitment within the Australian community to work against slavery. But where companies don't comply with the bill in its current form there should be penalties attached. The proposed business engagement unit is toothless and it has no enforcement powers. Key stakeholders, including ACRATH, Anti-Slavery Australia and the ACTU, have joined Labor in calling for the establishment of an independent antislavery commissioner.

Modern slavery is often difficult for authorities to detect, investigate and prosecute. There are also significant gaps in the support services for victims of modern slavery. An independent antislavery commissioner would help fill those gaps, firstly, by working with victims of slavery to receive inquiries and complaints. Secondly, it would assist businesses in building best practice to protect their supply chains. Thirdly, it would work with civil society to help prevent and detect slavery in Australia. Lastly, it would allow us to enhance our global efforts to fight slavery, including by working with other countries and with international organisations that are working to end slavery.

Labor is very concerned that the bill also includes forced marriage as one of the forms of exploitation that business would report on. Forced marriage is one of the most serious forms of exploitation, human being of human being. Forced marriage is often accompanied by sexual abuse for extended periods of time, isolation and the taking of victims overseas against their will. It is extremely serious. But to include it in this bill might have unintended consequences—a view expressed by a number of organisations that are active in this area—including potentially driving forced marriage further underground. Our view is based on advice from advocates who work every day on preventing forced marriage and assisting people who are at risk of forced marriage. Australia's current approach to forced marriage isn't working. Under the Turnbull government there was not one successful prosecution of forced marriage offences under the Criminal Code. Victims have limited civil protections and struggle to access government financial support. So earlier this year, to deal specifically with forced marriage, Labor committed to establishing a regime of force marriage protection orders, increasing funding for civil society organisations, establishing a forced marriage unit to provide a one-stop shop to connect victims to support services and government agencies, and providing assistance for Australians who have been taken overseas to be married against their will.

We are also committed to removing the cooperation requirement. Currently victims of forced marriage who want to access government funded support have to agree to cooperate with law enforcement. You can imagine how difficult it becomes when you're talking about a young person potentially having to give evidence against their parents or other family members. Having to testify against their own family in order to access critical support might actually prevent a person making a complaint in the first place or accessing support. We don't believe that's adequate. The government recently announced a limited trial to improve these support services, but that trial doesn't go nearly far enough. We believe that the government should match Labor's forced marriage policy commitment, not risk driving this practice further underground.

I acknowledged the work by Clare O'Neil, the shadow minister for justice, on modern slavery, and I should also acknowledge her work in the area of forced marriage. It really has been first rate, but, of course, there are many people in the Australian community who've been working on these issues for many years. I'd particularly like to acknowledge Dr Jennifer Byrne and her team at Anti-Slavery Australia and the many civil society and faith based organisations that are active in this area, including the Uniting Church; the Salvation Army; members of the Australian Freedom Network; STOP THE TRAFFIK; Fiona McLeod SC and Morry Bailes from the Law Council of Australia; the Walk Free Foundation, particularly Andrew Forrest and his family, who have been very active in this antislavery area; and my friend and former colleague former Senator Chris Evans. The Australian Council of Trade Unions and individual unions have also been extraordinary in their fight against the extreme exploitation of workers in industries as diverse as textiles, clothing and footwear; agriculture; transport; domestic; child care; and construction—particular parts of the construction industry have been very much at risk of slave-like conditions for some of the workers. So I acknowledge the very fine contribution of these organisations over many years.

I just want to finish by speaking a little bit about Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans. ACRATH have really done extraordinary work in this area of modern slavery and also in the area of trafficking of people. They have been fierce and persistent advocates for the victims of trafficking. As well as their advocacy work, they provide services that have been a lifeline to trafficked individuals in Australia and in our region. ACRATH has been instrumental in shining a light on the slavery that exists today, including the fact that Australia is a destination for trafficked people. ACRATH gives people who have been trafficked hope, and it gives them a voice.

Today, I want to particularly acknowledge the work that ACRATH has done on forced marriage. ACRATH has produced materials for use in the school curriculum to improve awareness of the practice of forced marriage in Australia and to make sure that all students know that forced marriage is illegal and know where they can turn if they believe they or a friend or someone they know is at risk of forced marriage. These materials were piloted in schools across three Australian states—South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. Evaluation of the pilot shows that the materials were very effective. The program evaluation report says, 'Schools provide the potential for tens of thousands of young people to be educated about human rights and the way that the practice of forced marriage violates these rights.' The program empowers young people to advocate for their own rights and for the rights of their peers. The funding for this was absolutely minuscule: $60,000 was what they needed to run this program. Unfortunately, ACRATH now have uncertainty about whether they'll be able to continue this work, because there is no certainty about their ongoing funding. I would like to take this opportunity to call on the government to make sure that programs like this can be given a certain future and that organisations like ACRATH are properly supported to continue and to expand their work to eliminate trafficking in all its forms, including forced marriage.

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