Submission to the Inquiry Into Establishing a Modern Slavery
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Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia Submission 199 Submission to the Inquiry into Establishing a Modern Slavery Act Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs and Aid Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia Submission 199 Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia Submission 199 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 4 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 6 TERM OF REFERENCE 1. THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF MODERN SLAVERY (INCLUDING SLAVERY, FORCED LABOUR AND WAGE EXPLOITATION, INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE, DEBT BONDAGE, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, FORCED MARRIAGE AND OTHER SLAVERY-LIKE EXPLOITATION) BOTH IN AUSTRALIA AND GLOBALLY .......... 10 TERM OF REFERENCE 2. THE PREVALENCE OF MODERN SLAVERY IN THE DOMESTIC AND GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS OF COMPANIES, BUSINESSES AND ORGANISATIONS OPERATING IN AUSTRALIA .............................. 17 CASE STUDIES OF MODERN SLAVERY IN AUSTRALIAN SUPPLY CHAINS .............................................................................. 17 FORCED LABOUR IN SUPPLY CHAINS INTO AUSTRALIA ................................................................................................... 28 TABLE 1: LIST OF SELECTED GOODS PRODUCED WITH HIGH RISK OF FORCED LABOUR OR CHILD LABOUR BY COUNTRY AND VALUES OF THE GOODS IMPORTED INTO AUSTRALIA ..................................................................................................................... 28 TABLE 2: LIST OF GOODS IDENTIFIED BY AG'S DEPARTMENT WITH HIGH RISK OF FORCED LABOUR IN THEIR PRODUCTION AND VALUE OF IMPORTS TO AUSTRALIA ..................................................................................................................................... 30 TERM OF REFERENCE 3. IDENTIFYING INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE EMPLOYED BY GOVERNMENTS, COMPANIES, BUSINESSES AND ORGANISATIONS TO PREVENT MODERN SLAVERY IN DOMESTIC AND GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS, WITH A VIEW TO STRENGTHENING AUSTRALIAN LEGISLATION ........................................... 32 INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 32 GOVERNMENTS..................................................................................................................................................... 34 BUSINESSES .......................................................................................................................................................... 43 CIVIL SOCIETY INITIATIVES ....................................................................................................................................... 44 TERM OF REFERENCE 4. THE IMPLICATIONS FOR AUSTRALIA’S VISA REGIME, AND CONFORMITY WITH THE PALERMO PROTOCOL TO PREVENT, SUPPRESS AND PUNISH TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS, ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN REGARDING FEDERAL COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF MODERN SLAVERY ......... 47 IMPLICATIONS OF A MODERN SLAVERY ACT ON AUSTRALIA’S VISA REGIME ....................................................................... 47 IMPROVING PROTECTIONS FOR VULNERABLE WORKERS AS AN ANTI-SLAVERY STRATEGY ..................................................... 51 CONFORMITY WITH THE PALERMO PROTOCOL REGARDING FEDERAL COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF MODERN SLAVERY ........... 55 TERM OF REFERENCE 5. PROVISIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM'S LEGISLATION WHICH HAVE PROVEN EFFECTIVE IN ADDRESSING MODERN SLAVERY, AND WHETHER SIMILAR OR IMPROVED MEASURES SHOULD BE INTRODUCED IN AUSTRALIA ..................................................................................................................... 57 OVERVIEW OF UK ACT ........................................................................................................................................... 57 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE UK ACT – IN GENERAL TERMS .................................................................................................. 58 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE UK ACT – SPECIFIC PROVISIONS ................................................................................................ 61 Anti-Slavery Commissioner (s40-44) ............................................................................................................ 61 TISC Provisions ............................................................................................................................................. 64 Annual statement (s54(1) and (4)) ............................................................................................................... 64 Abuses covered (s54(4)(a)) ........................................................................................................................... 65 All goods and services (s54(2)(a)) ................................................................................................................ 65 Large companies (s54(2)(b) and (3)) ............................................................................................................ 66 Threshold (s54(3)) ........................................................................................................................................ 68 Board approval (s54(6)(a)) ........................................................................................................................... 71 Statement to be public (s54(1) and (7)) ....................................................................................................... 72 Extra territorial reach (s54(12)) ................................................................................................................... 72 No minimum footprint (s54(12)) .................................................................................................................. 72 Page 2 of 105 Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia Submission 199 Government guidance (s54(9)) .................................................................................................................... 72 Duty to notify Secretary of State about suspected victims of slavery or human trafficking (s 52) .............. 73 Independent child trafficking advocates (s 48) ............................................................................................ 74 IMPROVED MEASURES TO BE INTRODUCED IN AUSTRALIA .............................................................................................. 74 Mandated statement content and include requirement to report on risk (s54(5)) ...................................... 74 List of companies ......................................................................................................................................... 76 Repository .................................................................................................................................................... 76 Application to offshore subsidiaries ............................................................................................................. 78 Public procurement ...................................................................................................................................... 78 Penalties ....................................................................................................................................................... 79 Ongoing monitoring of compliance ............................................................................................................. 79 Public education campaign .......................................................................................................................... 80 TERM OF REFERENCE 6. WHETHER A MODERN SLAVERY ACT SHOULD BE INTRODUCED IN AUSTRALIA ........ 81 TERM OF REFERENCE 7. ANY OTHER RELATED MATTERS ............................................................................... 87 OECD NATIONAL CONTACT POINT ........................................................................................................................... 88 EARLY AND FORCED MARRIAGE ............................................................................................................................... 89 APPENDIX A. AUSTRALIAN CONVICTIONS OF SLAVERY-RELATED CASES ...................................................... 101 APPENDIX B. CASES OF LABOUR EXPLOITATION .......................................................................................... 102 Page 3 of 105 Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia Submission 199 Introduction “I spent three years in slavery in Sydney. I knew the people who brought me here. I worked for them in my country. They were people I trusted. They promised me a paid job as their housekeeper, [that] they will help me to get permanent residency and that later I can bring my children. I had no reason to doubt them and I wanted to improve my life and the lives of my children. They organised my visa and paid for my plane ticket. I lived in Sydney with the man, his wife and two sons. They told me to do all the housework and I started doing this work the day after I arrived. After 2 weeks they took my passport and said it was applying for permanent residence so I gave it to them. I think they would help me. I worked 7 days a week from 7 in the morning till 10 at night.