Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023. In mid-January this year, the ABC ran a story online about a Queensland man who'd been charged with 46 offences, including slavery and torture. According to the media report, the deckhands on the man's vessel were allegedly abused and had food and water withheld. The police inspector interviewed for the story said that the deckhands were not paid for their work and were forced to sleep out on the open deck of the boat. This was up in the far north part of Australia. It's alleged that the deckhands were exploited and manipulated, and some of them even claim to have been assaulted. The matter hasn't been finalised, but I would point out that my nephew worked for the same bloke a couple of decades before and spoke of similar questionable practices and how he saw other people being exploited on the boat. Obviously, these recent incidents all occurred in the waters off northern Australia. The one covered by the ABC was in a remote part of Cape York, out at sea, where there is less safety and scrutiny and where, obviously, there's nowhere to go if you want to leave that workplace. You don't want to go swimming in shark-infested, crocodile-infested waters up there.

However, the practice of modern slavery does not always happen in remote places. It can be happening right next door in a quiet suburban street, in our inner-city electorates or in a factory just down the road. It might be hard to imagine modern slavery existing in our own neighbourhoods, but we are not as far removed from exploitation as people might like to think. We like to think of ourselves as a modern, wealthy country with unions, awards and strong workplace conditions and protections. We're a democracy. We believe that we are progressive in our views of the world and its social norms. Despite this, human-trafficking and slavery in Australia often go unnoticed. While those being exploited may not be in chains, the cases that appear demonstrate that slavery-like practices are taking place right here in our country.

Mr Deputy Speaker, you might recall the case of the Sydney couple charged with modern slavery and sentenced to several years jail for holding a Filipina woman as their domestic slave. They had originally invited the woman to Australia to work as a nanny and housekeeper—perfectly normal—but when her tourist visa expired the couple told her that she could not return to the Philippines as she had to repay the cost to them of bringing her to Australia. For three years the couple forced the woman to work in their home and their business, all without pay. They told her she could not leave the home on her own or talk to anyone outside the family, and she was warned that disobeying these instructions would lead to her being punished. As you can see, Mr Deputy Speaker, exploiting someone is easy. Many people have vulnerabilities, and it can be easy to manipulate those vulnerabilities using fear, violence and misinformation.

It's important to note that modern slavery is distinct from historical slavery in that people are no longer legally owned under the system but instead subjected to illegal control. Modern slavery takes many forms but essentially refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse to leave because of threats, violence, coercion or deception. It's not a manacle around the ankle, but they are horrific workplaces nevertheless. Exploitative practices that include human trafficking, servitude, forced labour, debt bondage and forced marriage can all be forms of modern slavery. These are all serious crimes under Australian law. From all accounts, forced marriage, forced labour, debt bondage, domestic servitude and deceptive recruitment are on the rise in Australia. Unfortunately, global conviction rates are very low; they at around 38 per cent. In Australia, only 24 offenders were convicted between 2004 and 30 June 2019.

Walk Free, an international human rights group focused on the eradication of modern slavery, surmises that globally there are around 49.6 million people who are enduring some form of modern slavery. Sadly, our wonderful nation, the best place on earth, is not immune from this. In Australia it's estimated that around 41,000 people are experiencing modern-slavery-like conditions. Within Asia and the Pacific, Australia is ranked 26th out of 27 countries in terms of the prevalence of modern slavery, and 149th out of 160 countries globally. In the financial year ending 30 June 2022, authorities received 294 modern slavery reports. That this represents the highest number ever received annually suggests that modern slavery remains underreported in Australia, given the estimated prevalence rate of modern slavery.

The Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023 delivers on Labor's election commitment to add a new, independent pillar to Australia's comprehensive response to modern slavery. The bill before the chamber amends the Modern Slavery Act to establish the core functions of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner, including engaging with and supporting victims and survivors of modern slavery and supporting business to address risks of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains, where sometimes businesses can be duped. One of the most important parts of our response is making sure that people who have experienced modern slavery can access timely and appropriate support. In the last budget, the Albanese government committed an additional $24.3 million in funding over four years for the Support for Trafficked People Program. Administered by the Department of Social Services and delivered nationally by the Red Cross, a wonderful organisation, this is a program that aims to help clients in meeting their safety, security, health and wellbeing needs and to develop options for life after they leave the support program.

At the heart of our commitment to eradicating modern slavery is combating the drivers of modern slavery, disrupting its operations and holding perpetrators of slavery to account. Of course, a key focus remains on the people affected, those who have been or may become victims of modern slavery, by placing a strong emphasis on partnering effectively with survivors. This year's budget committed $5.3 million to establish an antislavery commissioner. This new commissioner will play a whole-of-government role in implementing our package in full, alongside other measures such as the introduction of penalties for noncompliance with the Modern Slavery Act. As a country, we have a significant role to play in fighting modern slavery both at home and overseas. A robust and powerful antislavery commissioner is key to this.

The commissioner will be appointed through a merit based and transparent selection process on a full-time basis for a term of up to five years. Independence is important to maintaining objectivity, and the commissioner will have the discretion to work as they need to. Independence also means that the commissioner is free to scrutinise the efforts of government departments, government agencies and the police and others working in prevention, prosecution and protection. Importantly, the commissioner will not be subject to direction. Failure to provide the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner with this independence, adequate resourcing and relevant powers could undermine the effective functioning of Australia's Modern Slavery Act.

Once appointed, the commissioner will be required to develop a strategic plan that sets out how they intend to deliver and monitor the effectiveness of their functions. They'll be required to develop an annual report, to be tabled in parliament, outlining their key progress and milestones. This is extremely important in relation to measuring the extent to which objectives and priorities are achieved.

The Albanese government has also committed $8 million over four years to support the commissioner's establishment and operations. The role and functions will complement the work undertaken across government, business and civil society to prevent and to respond to incidents of modern slavery.

It's also important to recognise the important research, support and advocacy that organisations such as Anti-Slavery Australia, Walk Free Australia, the wonderful Red Cross and other organisations have done in this area.

The commissioner will play a key role in helping to shape implementation of future modern slavery reforms, including those which may arise from the recent statutory review of the Modern Slavery Act, which the Albanese government is currently considering. The commissioner will also have an important role in promoting and harnessing research capabilities to support evidence based responses, as well as playing a key role in educating and raising awareness of modern slavery in Australia.

I said earlier that modern slavery cases in Australia are under-reported. That is our great suspicion. We must provide the awareness and tools to recognise that deprivation of freedom and the existence of exploitation, and then to give people the courage, protection and support to come forward and report, and support after they do so. As a government, we must continue to lead by example when it comes to tackling modern slavery. The commissioner will be an advocate for the continuous improvement of practice and policy. While the commissioner will not investigate or deal directly with individual matters of modern slavery—they're not the police—they will be able to make observations regarding systemic issues, based on their engagement with victims and survivors and with the broader community.

I look forward, as I'm sure all in the parliament do, to hearing of the appointment of Australia's first Anti-Slavery Commissioner, a role that will provide an excellent opportunity for government to work with agencies across the country and beyond our borders on policy that will make an impact for survivors and also address the underlying causes which create vulnerability and criminal opportunity. I commend this legislation to the House.

Sitting suspended from 12 : 53 to 1 5 : 59

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