<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>332804</docID> <postdate>2024-11-11 08:58:32</postdate> <headline>Anti-slavery tsar welcomed but civil groups want teeth</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-332805" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/20111214000368203104-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="647" /></p> <caption>Former Labor Senator Chris Evans has been appointed as the nation's anti-slavery commissioner. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p class="wire-column__preview__author"><span class="kicker-line">By <b>Dominic Giannini and Alex Mitchell</b> in Sydney</span></p> <p><strong>Human rights groups have welcomed the appointment of Australia's first anti-slavery commissioner as the nation works to stamp out the abhorrent practice.</strong></p> <p>Chris Evans, a Labor senator between 1993 and 2013, will start the role in December and shape reforms laid out in a recent review of modern slavery laws.</p> <p>It's estimated 41,000 people in Australia and 50 million people worldwide live and work in modern slavery situations.</p> <p>The commissioner will work with government to crack down on exploitative practices such as human trafficking, forced labour, forced marriages, deceptive recruiting and debt bondage.</p> <p>Five human rights groups called for the commissioner's funding to be increased beyond the budgeted $8 million over four years and for it to be given extra enforcement and investigation powers.</p> <div class="wire-column__preview__text" id="preview-body"> <p>"Australia is now at a critical juncture in its path to tackling modern slavery," Australian Human Rights Institute director Justine Nolan said.</p> <p>"A well-resourced anti-slavery commissioner will need to be a key part of the government's future strategy if we are to show the world we are serious about helping end this scourge."</p> <p>Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association president Ramila Chanisheff warned a lack of enforcement meant people would still be subject to horrific human rights abuses.</p> <p>There was also an urgent need to protect migrant workers in the agriculture sector facing exploitation, Human Rights Law Centre legal director Keren Adams said.</p> <p>"We urge the Albanese government to ensure that the new anti-slavery commissioner has the powers and resourcing needed to drive real changes to corporate practices," he said.</p> <p>Mr Evans would strengthen work by governments, businesses and civil society to help victims, raise awareness and tackle the risks of companies using modern slavery practices in their supply chains, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said.</p> <p>A review of Australia's Modern Slavery Act tabled in 2023 found "no hard evidence" the legislation was bringing meaningful change for people living in modern slavery conditions.</p> <p>"There are occasional scattered instances of modern slavery incidents and victims being identified, but no strong storyline that the drivers of modern slavery are being turned around," the review read.</p> <p>NSW anti-slavery commissioner James Cockayne called for an urgent inquiry into the practice after identifying risks for temporary migrant workers in rural and regional parts of the state.</p> <p>It followed a landmark report that estimated 16,400 people were trapped in modern slavery after it looked at modern slavery risks temporary migrant workers face in agriculture, horticulture and meat processing in NSW.</p> </div> </body>