Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is unfortunate that slavery is not a problem that existed yesterday, because it exists today in the form of modern slavery. It is a problem that doesn't just affect Australia and doesn't just affect our neighbours to the north. It affects countries all over the globe and people from all walks of life: men, women, boys, girls, different ethnicities and religions and such.

Modern slavery is actually a topic that I have had some interest in for quite some time now. It came to my attention when I was leaving high school, in 2010, and about to enter university. It was on a CNN report, in fact, on the CNN Freedom Project, which outlines what modern slavery is, how it impacts communities right across the globe and how it impacts businesses and corporations as well. Modern slavery truly is a scourge on our society; it is a scourge on our global society and here in Australia. The control of another human being and their family in order to exploit them is absolutely abhorrent. Millions of people around the globe are currently living in modern slavery. It's just not good enough.

Modern slavery is quite varied in what it looks like and how it presents. It can be sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, forced labour, bonded labour or debt bondage, domestic servitude, forced child labour, forced marriage and the use of child soldiers in conflict. I have to say that all of these are horrendous, and I know that all members here would agree that these are absolutely horrendous. So what we must do, and what this bill seeks to do in the Australia context but more broadly, is combat this problem.

What I want to do first is look at modern slavery in Australia and how it impacts our communities here. I then want to explore and get to the crux of what this bill is—namely, it establishes the Anti-Slavery Commissioner. We know that modern slavery practices are major violations of human rights. They are, as I have just said, serious crimes that have become more prevalent right across the globe. They are complex. They are ever evolving. Also, importantly, they are hidden in plain sight. The Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023 would deliver a key component of the Albanese Labor government's election commitment to tackle modern slavery. The bill would also support the government's budget announcement on 9 May 2023 that $8 million over four years would be allocated to the establishment of the 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, as well as, really importantly—and this has been said a few times now by other members in this chamber—to address the risk of modern slavery practices in the supply chains of businesses.

As I've alluded to, Australia isn't immune to modern slavery. These practices can affect any country, and they affect Australia. 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 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. AIC's research also indicated that, for every victim detected in Australia, there are approximately four undetected victims. So there are people in our community suffering from this horrific issue who are not getting the assistance that they need in order to work and live safely with their families.

Australian businesses are also exposed to risks from modern slavery. Some goods and services in Australia are likely to be tainted by modern slavery practices. That's what I was talking about earlier with regard to those supply chains. The Modern Slavery Act has increased transparency in those supply chains and elevated awareness of these risks among the Australian business community. Within the Labor government, we recognise that more can be done to address estimates that modern slavery crimes are continuing to increase here and are also continuing to increase abroad.

This bill delivers what we committed to, and that's a reform that will add an independent pillar to Australia's comprehensive framework to combat modern slavery. Civil society, academia and business 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 provide 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 and the Joint Committee on Law Enforcement 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 McMillan AO also examined the potential role of an independent commissioner. There were extensive submissions and extensive consultations at that point, which highlighted continued strong public support for the appointment of a specialist antislavery commissioner here in Australia.

This bill further strengthens Australia's response to modern slavery. It demonstrates Australia's heightened commitment to upholding the absolute right to freedom from slavery and forced labour and the right to protection against exploitation, violence and abuse. I won't go through them again, but I did give some horrific examples of modern slavery that occurs right across the globe, from sex trafficking to forced labour to forced marriage and child soldiers. They are all absolutely horrific, and we must combat them.

This bill establishes the Anti-Slavery Commissioner as an independent statutory office holder. Through the commissioner, the bill provides an independent mechanism for victims and survivors, businesses and civil society on issues and strategies to address modern slavery. Independence would facilitate the commissioner's engagement with diverse stakeholders to gain insights that would inform advocacy for improved policy and practice to address modern slavery issues.

I'd also like to highlight the governance surrounding the appointment of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner here in Australia. The commissioner would be financially accountable to the Australian parliament and would develop a strategic plan describing their priorities over the lifetime of said plan, to be published on their website. The commissioner would then report on the outcomes of their activities in their annual reports, and those reports would then be tabled in parliament for all to see. The bill also requires the Anti-Slavery Commissioner to uphold Australia's public governance and privacy laws when performing their functions, to protect individuals and Australia's interests.

Regarding the review of the Modern Slavery Act, the government will respond to it after careful analysis of the recommendations, and further functions may be considered for the commissioner as necessary, following the government response to that review.

I really again want to highlight that slavery is not just a problem that existed yesterday. It is not a problem of the past; it is a problem now. It is a problem here in Australia, as we've heard. They are troubling statistics. Up to 1,900 people—that is absolutely unacceptable. This problem exists here today. It's right across the world, in all of our communities and it affects people from all walks of life—men, women, boys, girls, different religions, different ethnicities and the like. This is a problem that is right through our communities.

Again, I'll give a shout-out to one of the reasons that I became interested in this topic and found out about this topic. It was the CNN Freedom Project. I was watching the news. I think it was either the last day of high school or the first week of university. This program came on, and the report spoke about what modern slavery is, how it affects our communities and what governments across the world, not-for-profit groups, advocacy groups and the like should be doing in order to support not just those affected, and families and communities affected, but also businesses and their supply chains and governance structures. This is an absolute scourge on our society. The control of another human being in order to exploit them and then control their families and such is abhorrent and it must come to an end. Part of how we combat this problem is through this bill, the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023, with the establishment of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner. I commend the bill to the House.

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