Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Sophea was sold into slavery at the age of four. She was sent to a place 300 kilometres from home, where she was forced to sell cakes around the local village, even if she was ill. Sophea was given nothing to eat unless she sold all the cakes, and she was beaten every day.

Following the death of her parents, at age nine, Sinet was sent to live in an orphanage, together with her brothers and sisters. Children at the orphanage were forced to work in the rice fields and to entertain foreign tourists by singing and playing games with them. While the tourists would sometimes buy the children clothes or food, these were seized by the director of the orphanage and sold at the local market. Sinet was subjected to horrific physical and sexual abuse by the director of the orphanage.

Moceica was approached by his cousin, a church minister, to go to Australia to study and earn money. When he arrived his passport was seized and he was told he had to pay off a debt for travel and visa costs. He worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, picking grapes, watermelons or lettuces. Moceica thought that the money from his labour was being sent to his family, but when he contacted his mother after two years he found that they had received none of it. He estimates that these traffickers made over $200,000 from exploiting his labour, and he still has scars on his back from falling onto barbed wire, for which he received no medical treatment.

These are just a few of the horrifying stories reported in the 2017 Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade inquiry into modern slavery titled Hidden in plain sight. Modern slavery practices are among the worst human rights abuses and are widespread throughout the world. They take many forms, including forced marriage, child exploitation, human trafficking, serfdom or servitude, forced labour and even slavery as it is known in the traditional sense. It is estimated that globally around 50 million people are subject to human trafficking and modern slavery. That is a staggering number, especially when you consider, for comparison, that it is more than three times the number of people who were enslaved during the entire three centuries of the transatlantic slave trade.

Modern slavery takes place in every country in the world—sadly, including Australia. According to the Office of the NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner, there are 300 cases of modern slavery reported in Australia each year. But these cases are just the tip of the iceberg. The Australian Institute of Criminology estimated that between 2015-16 and 2016-17 there were between 1,300 and 1,900 victims of human trafficking and slavery in Australia and that, for every victim detected, about four victims go undetected. International human rights group Walk Free puts the figure even higher, estimating that in 2021 there were 41,000 people living in modern slavery in Australia. These include people in forced marriages, including children, and also forced labourers, particularly in those industries with a high proportion of migrant workers, such as agriculture, construction, domestic work, meat processing, cleaning, hospitality and food services.

Australia's responsibility to tackle modern slavery doesn't just stop at our borders. There are many products being imported to Australia that have been produced with forced labour. We have a moral obligation not just to tackle modern slavery within our country but also to be part of the international effort to address the problem globally. The Modern Slavery Act has increased transparency in supply chains and elevated awareness among the Australian business community of modern slavery risks.

While I recognise that it was the previous government that introduced the Modern Slavery Act, in 2018, Labor in opposition did a great deal of the legwork in the years prior to develop a serious policy to tackle modern slavery. In doing so, we had numerous discussions with representatives of business, civil society and trade unions, and the act was brought about only after considerable pressure from Labor.

While passing the Modern Slavery Act into law was a step in the right direction, there is much, much more that needs to be done. The establishment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner was part of Labor's tackling modern slavery election commitment. In the 2023 budget we committed $8 million over four years to establish the commissioner, who will work across government, business and civil society to tackle modern slavery. Among the functions of the commissioner will be engaging and supporting victims and survivors of modern slavery, promoting compliance with the Modern Slavery Act and providing targeted support to business to address risks of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains.

The commissioner will be an independent statutory office holder, and this independence will be vital for the commissioner's ability to engage with stakeholders and develop effective policy and practice to address modern slavery. The commissioner will be accountable to the parliament and will be required to establish a strategic plan outlining their priorities. Annual reports tabled in parliament will inform the parliament and the public of the commissioner's activities and their progress towards strategic outcomes. 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, and the commissioner may be reappointed once after their initial term.

If this bill is passed, the commissioner will not, on their own, constitute the Australian government's entire response to modern slavery. Rather, their office will be part of a comprehensive framework that includes the Modern Slavery Act criminal offences, specialist Australian Federal Police investigative teams, a support program for victims-survivors, a human trafficking visa framework and a modern slavery research program. The commissioner's functions will complement the work being undertaken to combat modern slavery by the Attorney-General's Department, other government agencies and the Ambassador to Counter Modern Slavery, People Smuggling and Human Trafficking. The establishment of the commissioner will add to our arsenal for combating the horrific practice of modern slavery, both at home and abroad.

An independent anti-slavery commissioner has widespread support from stakeholders across civil society, trade unions, peak business groups and academics. It has also been recommended by several inquiries and reports. The 2017 Hidden in plain sight report, which I mentioned earlier, found that the establishment of an independent anti-slavery commissioner in Australia would 'strengthen Australia's response to combating modern slavery'. Also in 2017, the report of the Joint Committee on Law Enforcement's inquiry into human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices stated: 'There may be merits in establishing an anti-slavery and trafficking commissioner independent from government.' The five-year statutory review of the Modern Slavery Act led by Professor John McMillan AO in May 2023 noted the Albanese government's commitment to establishing an anti-slavery commissioner, and observed:

There are high expectations that the Anti-Slavery Commissioner will play a pivotal role in lifting both recognition within Australia of modern slavery risks and the standard of business performance in addressing those risks …

The McMillan report also noted that, with only a few exceptions, there was strong support for an anti-slavery commissioner in submissions to the inquiry.

The most recent inquiry that considered the merits and role of an anti-slavery commissioner was, of course, the inquiry into this bill. While the report focused on the key issues raised by the provisions of the bill, there was strong support for a commissioner in the submissions to the inquiry. The Australian Human Rights Commission said in its submission:

The Commonwealth Government's decision to legislate an Anti-Slavery Commissioner is a welcome step towards further strengthening Australia's response to modern slavery. With an effective mandate, institutional independence and appropriate resourcing, the Anti-Slavery Commissioner will make an important contribution towards both combatting modern slavery and protecting human rights.

International human rights organisation Walk Free said in its submission:

We believe the establishment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner is crucial to monitor and support government and business to strengthen the prevention and remediation of modern slavery.

I note that some submitters, including Walk Free, the AHRC, the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Council of Trade Unions, submitted that the commissioner should have a greater remit than that proposed in the bill. However, as the Attorney-General's Department noted in its submission to the inquiry, the office of the commissioner is being established with a view to considering further functions as necessary. For example, the government is still giving careful consideration to the recommendations of the McMillan review, and further functions may be considered for the commissioner as necessary, following the government's response.

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 against exploitation, violence and abuse. The Albanese Labor government remains firmly committed to tackling modern slavery.

I commend the bill to the Senate.