16 June 2020

Australia's efforts to tackle modern slavery are at risk of being thrown off course because the government's newly appointed expert panel is dominated by business interests, according to campaigners and legal advocates.

Labor's home affairs spokeswoman, Kristina Keneally, said it was hard to understand how the government could comprehensively address modern slavery with an advisory group "that contains no representation from the groups who work directly with workers who are working in slavery or at risk of slavery".

[...] Unions and civil society groups are not represented.

[...]

Carolyn Kitto, the national co-director of Be Slavery Free...pointed to the Australian Border Force's guidance material on modern slavery.

The document encourages businesses to collaborate with civil society organisations and workers and their representatives "to strengthen your entity's response to modern slavery".

[...]

Jason Wood, the assistant minister for customs, community safety and multicultural affairs, has described the group as "a world-leading initiative that brought together key experts with practical knowledge and expertise in combating modern slavery".

But Keneally wrote to Wood...to raise "significant concerns" about what the expert advisory group would be able to achieve without representation from civil society organisations and unions.

"From the seventy applicants, not a single appointment has been made from those who are working directly with workers at risk of modern slavery," she said in her letter to Wood.

[...]

An Australian Border Force spokesperson said the government wanted to ensure the Modern Slavery Act drove "long-term change" and feedback from businesses was "vitally important".

[...]