A consortium of more than 117 organisations has come together to urge the NSW premier to put into force the Modern Slavery Act by January next year.
In a letter addressed to Gladys Berejiklian, the consortium, which also included academics, lawyers and community and faith leaders, expressed its concerns over further delays in implementing the Act.
Carolyn Kitto, co-director of Be Slavery Free, a global coalition working to prevent, abolish and disrupt modern slavery, said there are more slaves in the world today than any other time in history.
“Every day, 25,200 people, as a guestimate, enter slavery. So, every day that this is delayed, NSW, which is the seventh largest economy in Asia, loses an opportunity to set a standard about ending modern slavery.”
Ms Kitto, one of the signatories of the letter, believes the Act, if put into force, will help end slavery in the supply chain.
“It’s estimated that 70 to 80 per cent of slavery is actually in the supply chain of the goods that we buy, and we’ve been an importing country,” she said.
“Our manufacturing is largely offshore, and so asking businesses to check their supply chains sends a message that we are not only interested in profit, we’re also interested in people.”
The Act will make it riskier and less lucrative to use forms of modern slavery, according to Ms Kitto.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about additional concerns. The restrictions put in place have made it easier for businesses to hide things, she said.
For example, a factory could refuse to let its workers leave the building to protect them and others from getting the virus. However, under normal conditions, restricting people’s movements would be considered an act of modern slavery.
“People who end up in slavery are there because they’re vulnerable, because they’re women, because they’re children, because they’re poor and because they’re desperate,” Ms Kitto said.
“So, any opportunity, people are more likely to take a job that has less protection and standards, and therefore they’re more open to exploitation.”
People are also more desperate during these times, she said. “If children can’t go to school, families may be more tempted to put them into work.”
Sometimes, modern slavery is not detected because it’s been referred to as something else, such as wage theft or sex with a minor rather than forced marriage.
“Modern slavery is an umbrella term which covers a range of crimes … These crimes have three things in common: the person who ends up in that situation has been deceived, tricked or coerced into what they’re doing,” Ms Kitto said.
“Their freedom is withheld in some kind of way so they can’t leave … and the third thing is that they’re exploited for the benefit of another person.”
There is no globally agreed definition of modern slavery. According to Be Slavery Free, there are eight crimes associated with it, including human trafficking, slavery, servitude, forced labour, debt bondage, deceptive recruitment, forced marriage and worst forms of child labour.
The NSW Modern Slavery Act was passed in 2018 but is yet to be put into force. It is unclear to Ms Kitto what the cause of delay is.
“It seems to us that everything in the democratic process and more has been done,” she said.
“My local member, I’ve requested a meeting on four occasions and it’s been denied. I’ve never had this experience in my life before because it’s part of a politician’s job to meet with members of their electorate, and they’re not.”
The letter was delivered to the premier on July 20; there has been no response yet. Ms Kitto said the premier has 28 days to respond.
________________
To support the campaign, see www.beslaveryfree.com/nsw-msa
