Australia's Anti-Slavery Commissioner

The Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission) has provided a submission to the inquiry into the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023 (Bill).

Anti-Slavery Commissioner 

The Commission has previously called for the strengthening of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (Modern Slavery Act) by establishing an Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

The recent Report of the Statutory Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth): The First Three Years (McMillan Report) highlights the strong support for the creation of this office.

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.

Appointments 

The Bill outlines the appointment process for the Anti-Savery Commissioner.

Ambiguity in the appointment process is introduced by employing the term ‘as soon as practicable’ regarding the obligation to fill a vacant position. The term ‘as soon as practicable’ is not defined in the Bill nor discussed in either the Explanatory Memorandum or the Second Reading Speeches.

The inclusion of this term appears to be a deliberate choice providing necessary flexibility to find and appoint an appropriate replacement Anti-Slavery Commissioner. However, such ambiguous language may result in improper delays in appointing Anti-Slavery Commissioners.

Extended remit

It is clear from the Bill that the Anti-Slavery Commissioner will not investigate or resolve complaints concerning individual instances (or suspected instances) of modern slavery.

However, like the UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner, it may be useful for the Bill to expressly allow the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner to also ‘encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences, as well as the identification of victims’.

This broader remit would allow the Anti-Slavery Commissioner to better address the unique challenges raised by modern slavery and strengthen responses.

Whole-of-Government Response

To combat the novel challenges of modern slavery a whole-of-government approach is required. All agencies and bodies must work in unison to prevent and respond to modern slavery.

It is critical that the role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner is developed with regard to existing offices and bodies that have a formal role to play in respect of Australia’s efforts to combat modern slavery, both at the federal level and those established by the states and territories.

Recommendations 

The Commission's submission makes six important recommendations ranging from the remit of the new Commissioner to the need for a comprehensive approach to modern slavery in Australia. To learn more about these recommendations, please read the submission.