Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

While it has long been outlawed in modern society, modern slavery persists. It exists where coercion, threats or deception is used to exploit victims and limit freedoms that many of us take for granted. Modern slavery is found in every country and can include human trafficking, slavery, servitude, forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage and child labour.

Of an estimated 50 million people subjected to modern slavery worldwide, 28 million are in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage. It's estimated that more than 10 million of those in forced labour are children, robbed of their opportunity to have a childhood or to be with their families. They are robbed of their health, their safety and their access to education. There is a high cost of forced child labour. Their lives depend on our choices and Australia moving to be modern slavery free.

In the last parliament, I introduced my Customs Amendment (Banning Goods Produced by Forced Labour) Bill 2021 in the hope that Australia would not be the end point of services and products made by forced labour. That bill built upon former Independent senator Rex Patrick's bill, the Custom Amendments (Banning Goods Produced by Uyghur Forced Labour) Bill 2020, which aimed to address the well-documented human rights abuses of hundreds of thousands of Uighur people being used in forced labour. Senator Patrick's bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, which endorsed its objectives but recommended the introduction of a global ban on importing to Australia goods that are produced by forced labour—all provided for in my bill. Despite this recommendation, the government of the day did not support our bills and neither former senator Patrick's nor my bill passed into law.

The bill before us forms part of the government's response to the 2023 statutory review of the first three years of operation of Australia's Modern Slavery Act 2018, led by Professor John McMillan. In line with the review's recommendations, a new Anti-Slavery Commissioner will fight slavery in Australia and overseas by fostering compliance with the Modern Slavery Act. The commissioner will seek to improve transparency in supply chains, raise the profile of modern slavery through education awareness and provide resources to support victim-survivors of modern slavery practices. The commissioner is not intended to investigate or deal directly with individual matters within the remit of enforcement agencies.

Be Slavery Free, working with other civil society groups, advises that, while the bill represents a positive start, there some gaps and omissions. The Australian Council of Trade Unions stated:

Unfortunately, this Bill falls far short of what is required to ensure an effective response to modern slavery. It proposes a piecemeal response with the creation of a figurehead primarily exercising education, promotion and awareness-raising functions, with a very small budget to carry out this role. This is completely inadequate to deal with the scope and severity of the problem of modern slavery.

We recommend that the Bill be withdrawn in its current form and substantially amended.

Human rights experts agree that it does need to go further, with Professor Emeritus Paul Redmond stating in his submission that the commissioner is in:

… a narrowly constrained role, incoherently emerging from the disordered jumble of functions listed in the paragraphs of s20(1).

The UK Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre's submission outlines the importance of the independence of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner, based on the UK experience.

There appears to be agreement that the bill falls short of providing a comprehensive response to modern slavery, that the commissioner's role, as drafted, lacks the teeth they need to fight modern slavery and that the budget committed to date will be inadequate. The commissioner's independence must be guaranteed so that it may raise difficult issues with government, business and other stakeholders. That is why I have tabled detailed amendments to this bill.

It will require Australian entities and entities carrying out business in Australia to assist the commissioner in their functions and to address modern slavery. It will require entities to undertake due diligence processes to address the risk of modern slavery practices in their operation's supply chain rather than just risk reporting; increase the commissioner's focus in helping to identify and provide support for victims-survivors, including helping them with complaints and coordinated referrals to relevant organisations; enable the commissioner to provide advice to the minister on modern slavery matters at their own instigation rather than only at the minister's request; clarify that the commissioner can conduct general inquiries but not interfere with investigations by enforcement agencies; require the commissioner to consult more broadly with civil society, victims-survivors, business and government agencies in strategic planning; and set a three-year time frame for a statutory review of the commission's budget after commencement of the legislation to ensure that they are appropriately resourced. Beyond the legislation, the government needs to determine the structure and commit the resources necessary to enable the commissioner to properly fulfil their duties and functions.

I thank the Attorney-General's office for its willingness to consider the amendments that I will be putting forward in the consideration and detail stage. However, these amendments really can't wait. The commissioner should be fit for purpose from the start rather than aspiring to make further changes in the future when we know that we can do those changes now. I commend this bill to the House and look forward to working with the government and all members to improve upon the role, resourcing and independence of the commissioner so they can best fight modern slavery.

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