Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak to the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023. It's a truth that I suspect is not disputed that slavery is a heinous crime. It is a scourge on us as humans and a scourge on our society. Although the UK Slave Trade Act officially outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807, slavery has existed long after that date. In Australia the so-called blackbirding, a slave trade from the Pacific islands to the east coast of Australia to provide labour for cane fields, existed much later, starting around 1860 and continuing until the 1900s. We know Aboriginal people were often made to work in stations and on missions, with wages withheld or partially withheld, even up until the 1970s. These cases are subject to stolen wage cases now, which continue to this day, and I commend some of the legal firms supporting these important class actions to retrieve stolen wages.

In our modern Australian society, slavery is more hidden but no less damaging to individuals and to our society. Modern slavery practices, like all previous slavery practices, are major violations of human rights. Slavery is a serious crime that has become more prevalent globally. It is a complex, ever-evolving and hidden crime. Australian organisations spend a lot of effort trying to eliminate overseas slavery from their supply chains, which is an important ethical consideration to ensure that we are not supporting human misery overseas. But onshore slavery, slavery right here in our country, often goes under the radar and of course is no less criminal and no less damaging.

I recently met with Associate Professor Marinella Marmo, an expert in modern slavery. She is a professor in law and criminology at Flinders University, and modern slavery is one of her areas of research. Professor Marmo told me that overseas students, people on work visas and foreign and temporary workers are particularly vulnerable to slavery practices, but other vulnerable groups, such as young people, people experiencing homelessness and people with disability, can also be targeted by unscrupulous employers.

What does modern slavery look like in Australia? It looks like accommodation rackets where employers are overcharging for accommodation, for transport to work, for food and for internet access so that the worker is essentially working for free. Female workers, particularly, are sexually exploited in order for them to get more hours or, worse, are tricked into the illegal sex trade. There are situations where the workers' passports are held by the employer. Workers are being forced to work excessive overtime or risk losing their jobs and thereby potentially breaching their visa conditions. For overseas workers, these unscrupulous employers know that the workers don't have good support networks in Australia. Language may be a barrier. They may be fearful of government because of the situation in their home country. The worker is often intimidated for fear of being reported for visa breaches, real or made up.

More locally, vulnerable people may be in fear of losing their job with a bad reference and having no other source of income. Professor Marmo says that her research has unearthed examples in a number of industries in remote-area work such as agriculture—where victims have additional barriers to physically leaving the premises—in hospitality, in 24/7 services such as petrol stations, in car washes, in nail salons and in the cleaning industry. These are but a few industries but by no means an exhaustive list. When we talk about the importance of protecting workers' rights, of ensuring a fair day's pay for a fair day's work and of ensuring people are safe in their work environment, this goes doubly so for this extreme form of exploitation. This government takes workers' rights seriously, and this government is taking modern slavery seriously.

The Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023 will deliver a key component of the government's 'tackling modern slavery' election commitment. The bill will also support the government's 2023-24 budget announcement of $8 million over four years allocated for the establishment of an Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner. This bill amends the Modern Slavery Act 2018 to confer a number of critical core functions on the commissioner, including to engage and support victims and survivors of modern slavery, to promote compliance with the Modern Slavery Act and to support business to address risks of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains.

Modern slavery practices can and do affect any country, and Australia is not immune. In 2019 the Australian Institute of Criminology's research found that there were between 1,300 and 1,900 victims of human trafficking and slavery in Australia between 2015-16 and 2016-17. The AIC's research also indicated that, for every victim detected in Australia, there are approximately four undetected victims.

Australian businesses are also exposed to modern slavery risks, and some goods and services in Australia are likely tainted by modern slavery. The Modern Slavery Act has increased transparency in supply chains and elevated awareness among the Australian business community of modern slavery risks. The government recognises that more can be done to address estimates that modern slavery crimes continue to increase here and abroad. The bill will deliver long-awaited reform by adding an independent pillar to Australia's comprehensive framework to combat modern slavery.

Civil society, business and academia have long advocated for an independent commissioner who could raise awareness of modern slavery in Australia, provide independent information and support to victims and survivors and targeted support to businesses to identify and address modern slavery risks in their supply chains. The 2017 reports of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Hidden in plain sight, and the Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, An inquiry into human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices, both explored and made recommendations for Australian modern slavery laws that would establish an independent commissioner.

In May 2023 the statutory review of the Modern Slavery Act led by Professor John McMillan AO also examined the potential role of an independent commissioner. The extensive consultations and submissions to the review highlighted continued strong public support for the establishment of an independent, high-profile specialist commissioner. By further strengthening Australia's response to modern slavery, this bill demonstrates Australia's heightened commitment to upholding the absolute right to freedom from slavery and forced labour and the right to protection from exploitation, violence and abuse.

The bill also requires the commissioner to consider Australia's international commitments when performing their functions, to ensure that implications for Australia's human rights and trades obligations are appropriately respected. The bill establishes the commissioner as an independent statutory office holder. Through the commissioner, the bill provides an independent mechanism for victims and survivors, business and civil society to engage on issues and strategies to address modern slavery. Independence will facilitate the commissioner's engagement with diverse stakeholders to gain insights that would inform advocacy for improved policy and practice to address modern slavery.

The commissioner will be financially accountable to the parliament and will develop a strategic plan describing their priorities over the lifetime of the plan, to be published on their website. The commissioner will report on the outcomes of their activities in their annual reports, which will be tabled in parliament. The bill also requires the commissioner to uphold Australia's public governance and privacy laws when performing their functions, to protect individuals and Australia's interest.

I turn now to the government's response to the review of the Modern Slavery Act. The government will respond to the review in 2024, after careful analysis of the recommendations. Further functions may be considered for the commissioner as necessary, following the government response to the review.

As Australians, we expect that workers will be safe in the workplace, will be paid appropriately, will have the freedom to leave a job or to change jobs at will. We assume that these basic standards apply not only to us as Australians but also to overseas workers who come to our country either as students or on work visas. We assume that, when we go to a supermarket to buy food or when we get our car washed or when we buy a meal from a restaurant, we are not contributing to a slavery supply chain. This bill is another step forward in eliminating modern slavery in our country. I commend the bill to the House.

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