International Justice Mission Australia (IJM Australia) welcomes the passage of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (the Act) by Australian Parliament. The Act is an important step in strengthening relationships between Australian businesses, consumers and government to create better transparency around global supply chains.
“IJM looks forward to working with government, businesses and other organisations in the months and years ahead to help Australia continue to be a leader in the fight to end slavery,” says Caroly Houmes, Chief Executive of IJM Australia.
Senator Linda Reynolds in her summary speech on Wednesday said, “We all agree that modern slavery has absolutely no place in the world today.” The Act affirms this sentiment.
It is IJM Australia’s privilege to have stood alongside other civil society organisations in advocating for legislative measures to tackle slavery. We are proud to have presented evidence before various Parliamentary Inquiries through which the Act was strengthened.
Senator Reynolds described the Act as “the next step forward for Australia in combatting modern slavery and trafficking.”
IJM Australia agrees and believes that sustained efforts are necessary to build momentum towards greater investment of resources to strengthen justice systems and see the vulnerable protected and safe enough to thrive.
We hope that the creation of anti-slavery legislation at the federal level will lead to richer and more open dialogue and collaboration between all sectors of society in tackling this global human rights issue.
Download our fact sheet comparing the Commonwealth legislation with the NSW and UK Acts.
For media enquiries, contact:
Bianca Bryson
bbryson@ijm.org.au
0478 219 171
INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION is a global organisation that protects the poor from violence throughout the developing world. IJM partners with local authorities to rescue victims of violence, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors and strengthen justice systems.
For more information, see www.IJM.org.au.
