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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-10 Daily Xml
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Motions

Modern Slavery

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (11:37): I move:

1. That in the opinion of this house a joint committee be appointed to investigate and report on—

(a) the prevalence of modern slavery in South Australia and the reasons for it being experienced;

(b) who experiences modern slavery and slavery-like conditions and why;

(c) the experience of women with modern slavery and sexual servitude;

(d) the interconnection between temporary visas and the experience of modern slavery and slavery-like conditions;

(e) the effectiveness of existing industrial instruments in addressing modern slavery and slavery-like conditions;

(f) the interconnection between being engaged on an insecure, casual or labour hire basis, outsourcing, economic settings and the experience of modern slavery;

(g) the potential role of government, business, community organisations and educational institutions in preventing and eradicating modern slavery and slavery-like conditions; and

(h) any other matters.

2. That, in the event of a joint committee being appointed, the House of Assembly be represented thereon by three members, of whom two shall form a quorum of assembly members necessary to be present at all sittings of the committee.

3. That a message be sent to the Legislative Council transmitting the foregoing resolution and requesting concurrence thereto.

Modern slavery and slavery-like practices are occurring in South Australia. They are a shocking reality and a terrible blight on our community and on our economy. A recent Australian Federal Police report showed that there were 15 cases investigated in South Australia in the last financial year alone, one of the highest per capita incident rates in the country. By the very secretive hidden nature of this terrible scourge, sadly we can safely assume the real figure is much, much higher.

Flinders University's Associate Professor Marinella Marmo's 2019 report, 'Slavery and slavery-like practices in South Australia', provides a very disturbing snapshot of the issue, and is the catalyst for the need for us in this place to raise awareness about and better understand it and to commit to doing whatever we can, whatever is within our power, to end these utterly unacceptable practices. I heartily thank Dr Marinella Marmo for her outstanding report and for her integrity and her values, which are a key impetus for this report.

It is a report that provides an important picture of these practices, a report that is steeped in compassion for people who are exploited and a report that encourages us to thoroughly explore these issues and to consider how we can provide avenues for those who are experiencing them to seek support, advocacy, safety and security.

I also thank the wonderful Alexandra Baxter and Sister Anne Twomey for their excellent contribution and for their campaigning towards the establishment of this inquiry. As Dr Marmo also does in the report's foreword, I offer my gratitude to Sister Meredith Evans for her encouragement and her energy. I also acknowledge ACRATH and Flinders University for their support of this work and the many service providers, unions, churches and very brave people they have supported, whose voice inform this report, whose voice must be amplified and heard and for whom we seek to establish this inquiry.

An inquiry into modern slavery and slavery-like practices in South Australia is the key recommendation of this fine well-received and respected report. Like many South Australians, I was deeply shocked when I read the media reports and found out more about the exploitation and abuse of people, so many of them women, outlined in Dr Marmo's report. Given the nature of this exploitation and abuse, and the fear engendered in people engaged in extraordinarily precarious employment by perpetrators, it is widely held that the examples outlined in Dr Marmo's report are sadly, shockingly, just the tip of the iceberg.

Modern slavery is a complex crime, which is estimated to impact around 40 million people worldwide. Because these practices reduce a person to a mere commodity and dehumanise people, modern slavery and slavery-like practices violate human rights. The practices include domestic labour and sexual servitude, which trap people in a cycle of vulnerability, poverty, violence and voicelessness. If left unchecked, these shocking practices will continue to see people harmed, exploited and devalued.

Any existence whatsoever of these practices is a blight on South Australia's reputation as a safe, welcoming place to work, study, visit and live. In the long term, they have the potential to have a terrible debilitating impact on many South Australian industries, including education, tourism, hospitality, cleaning and agriculture, that heavily rely on international students, tourists and migrant workers, industries that we must support at this time, and always, to grow.

Workers, principally within the hospitality supply chain, cleaning and agricultural industries, are being physically, financially and sexually abused whilst working in our state. No person in Australia, or indeed anywhere, should ever be forced to work against their will or be subject to any form of abuse or exploitation. Modern slavery is a human rights issue, and a health and safety issue, and gives rise to multiple labour force and industrial issues. All these issues and their terrible impact on our fellow human beings deserve to be thoroughly inquired into.

It is imperative that we deeply understand that impact on people, people such as the group of Taiwanese female backpackers whom the report referenced following a 2018 story raised by the then National Union of Workers, now United Workers Union. These women were working more than 40 hours per week in the Riverland and paid just $16 per hour. Eight of them lived in a three-bedroom house, which would have generously attracted rent of $350 per week.

Despite that, each of these eight women was required to pay $120 per week rent, as well as additional money for internet usage and transport to get to work. The report states that if they wanted to get to work and/or get more hours, they were expected to perform sexual favours. These are women treated in this appalling way and exploited right here in South Australia, just two years ago in 2018.

Previous global shocks, such as the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2014 Ebola outbreak, led to sharp increases in exploitation, including human trafficking, modern slavery and slavery-like practices. Our current circumstances could increase the risk of an upturn in modern slavery and slavery-like practices across Australia, including in South Australia, over the next few months.

With one of the country's highest unemployment rates and little support available for temporary visa holders and international students, it is feared that the increased demand for jobs will create an environment in which exploitation could grow and thrive in our state. Temporary visa holders could be particularly vulnerable to unethical employers in a tightened job market. This cohort of people can already face low wages, unsafe working conditions and abuse.

Crises traditionally push people toward making riskier decisions about what work they will do, which does make them vulnerable to exploitation. What we absolutely do not want to see is already low wages and conditions eroded further because people are so desperate to work and look after their families that they feel they have no other choice than to accept this sort of abuse. It is absolutely critical that we grow awareness and support for change.

This joint committee is a firm step in the right direction. It gives us an opportunity to explore these very complex issues to respond through recommendations in relation to them and then to act. Other jurisdictions that have considered these issues, have explored remedies, including requiring companies to report on modern slavery risk in supply chains, mechanisms to track perpetrators and to better share data amongst agencies. As has happened in other jurisdictions, as a parliament we must work together to make strong and urgent recommendations about how we can resolve these issues.

New South Wales was the first Australian jurisdiction to legislate against modern slavery and the second jurisdiction in the world to provide for an anti-slavery commissioner. The New South Wales act, which I understand will soon be implemented, sets out state-based mechanisms to address modern slavery and signals that state's commitment to ensuring New South Wales is a safe and fair community for all.

A New South Wales government website sets out some of the act's directions which, once their Legislative Council's Standing Committee on Social Issues considers its inquiry, will include establishing an anti-slavery commissioner to combat and raise awareness of modern slavery in New South Wales, developing a responsive approach to support victims and setting out guidelines for business and New South Wales government agencies to acknowledge and address modern slavery risks. It is clear that this state has legislated to ensure both public and private organisations take responsibility to eradicate these practices, practices that are absolutely an affront to all who care about people being treated with dignity and respect.

Given progress in other states, the contents of Dr Marmo's report, the recent arrests by the AFP, the capacity for increased exploitation as we face our current challenges and the many church groups, individuals and other groups who have urged the Marshall Liberal government to support this thorough inquiry, I fervently hope that they will. Those people who are being exploited are relying on them to do so. They need this government's support.

I understand the Attorney-General recently wrote to community members who raised the need for an inquiry with her, fobbing off their concerns by attempting to shift responsibility solely on to the commonwealth. In this correspondence the Attorney also claimed that existing domestic violence services could deal with modern slavery and that previous inquiries have examined it.

We strongly and utterly reject those assertions. Many cases within Dr Marmo's report showed key South Australian agencies were not equipped to deal with incidents of forced marriage and domestic, sexual and labour servitude. It is more likely that South Australian police, local community organisations, church organisations and other state-based organisations encounter these issues than their federal counterparts. No previous or current inquiry has looked at forced marriage, forced labour, deceptive recruiting and domestic, sexual and labour servitude in any meaningful way in South Australia.

We must find out who is benefiting from these practices and make sure there are proper deterrents in place. To do this we need an inquiry. It is crucial that the South Australian parliament follows the lead of New South Wales and Victoria in establishing a state-based inquiry. On this side of the house, we will relentlessly advocate for those whose stories can be heard through this inquiry. I urge members not to turn their backs on those to whom we should listen, on those whose circumstances make it so very difficult for their voices to be heard. I urge members to support this inquiry.

Let us together ensure that this is not another motion or bill that sits on our Notice Paper but, rather, an inquiry that we commit to in a bipartisan way, in a way that matters, in a way that gives us the best opportunity to listen and to help make a difference in people's lives. Let us together ensure that the establishment of this inquiry enables people who have been exploited to see that there is hope for meaningful change. I commend this motion to the house.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government) (11:52): I rise to indicate that the South Australian government strongly condemns all slavery and slavery-like practices; however, we will not be supporting this motion to establish a joint committee for the reasons I will outline. The member has identified that this motion comes out of a report regarding slavery and slavery-like practices release last year by Dr Marinella Marmo, Associate Professor at Flinders University, who, together with the member, has now formed a Facebook group called Stop Modern Slavery SA.

That is commendable, no question about that; however, it is important to note a number of things. The definition of modern slavery as examined, in fact, in Dr Marmo's report is very broad. It encompasses circumstances such as forced marriage, forced labour, domestic or sexual servitude within familial relationships and broader concerns of exploitation of temporary migrants. We know about exploitation: we have had the sex worker legislation debated in this house and how in some workforce circumstances people are in a power imbalance and are shockingly exploited.

Dr Marmo, however, identified several indicia rendering victims more vulnerable to slavery-like practices: temporary migratory status, isolation and a lack of a reliable support network, poor understanding or access to the Australian legal system, poor English skills and an inability to leave the exploitative environment, due to a real or perceived fear of repercussions. Fear of losing their job, fear of being expelled, fear of being put out on the street, fear of being sent home to their country of origin are all real circumstances; we know that.

The first recommendation of Dr Marmo, of course, is to establish this parliamentary committee; however, the other recommendations largely talk about issues of raising awareness, and the mover of the motion has identified the importance of continuing to do that.

The situation, however, is this. Firstly, the commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018 has passed. The Criminal Code Act 1995 and the South Australian Criminal Consolidation Act 1935 contain measures or offences to combat slavery or slavery-like practices. In South Australia we, together with the more recent advances at the commonwealth level, have been leaders in relation to legislative protection for these circumstances.

The Modern Slavery Act requires certain entities, including the commonwealth government, to publicly report annually on the risk of modern slavery in their global operations and supply chains, including entities owned and controlled by the principal, and their actions taken to address it. The act was designed to drive a race to the top as entities compete for market funding and investor and consumer support, and to raise awareness of modern slavery risk among business.

The commonwealth identified the risks are highest in the manufacture of bricks, coal, cocoa, cotton, coffee, floor coverings, footwear, garments, jewellery, natural rubber, rice, seafood, sugar and textiles. Importantly, a review is required to be done three years after its commencement. I commend members to have a look at those publications in this regard and disseminate them for public education if they are prepared to do that. I would certainly endorse it.

Divisions 270 and 271 of the Criminal Code Act contain significant penalties for slavery, which is inclusive of the circumstances as defined by Dr Marmo and is inclusive of debt bondage and trafficking, for example. These offences are investigated by the Australian Federal Police, on whose statistics Dr Marmo relies in her report. While there are cases in South Australia, they are relatively low as opposed to the whole of the percentage of the national total; for example, from 2004 to 2019—the data is all there—there were 18 suspected cases in South Australia referred to the AFP's Support for Trafficked People Program out of 449 federal cases.

In addition, the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) contains serious offences for commercial sexual servitude and child marriage. As the member would know, we do have pioneering legislation in this state to take away the passports of children if there is a fear that they are going to be removed from the country to be traded in a child marriage. The government runs and funds numerous programs that assist people experiencing domestic and family violence, which is a common factor examined by Dr Marmo in circumstances of slavery.

Further, there is already a Legislative Council select committee considering slavery-like practices in relation to wage theft. Just look at today's paper about whether that has been effective or not. I hope the committee also considers the prosecutions that have proceeded against two people who have consistently underpaid a large number of their employees in a food outlet here in South Australia. The committee's terms of reference were amended to include slavery-like work practices on 3 June 2020 to address these concerns in the context of labour. Again, I wish that committee well in adding to that term of reference and undertaking that work.

With respect to the particular vulnerability of temporary migrants, I wrote to the Minister for Immigration on 9 January this year, following representations from migration agents, to recommend legislative change to incorporate safeguarding provisions for temporary migrants to disclose exploitation without fear of visa cancellation. This is a real and pressing issue and, no doubt, we need to get the commonwealth on board to take that action. My executive team has been in contact with the federal department and, in addition, the justice policy and analytics team consults with Immigration SA on these issues.

In light of the above, the government does not support establishing a joint parliamentary committee into slavery and slavery-like practices in South Australia. It is the government's position that the broader issues of slavery and human trafficking are principally commonwealth matters, but we are doing the heavy lifting here in South Australia. We are proud to do it. We have pioneered it and our government will continue to do so.

I thank the member for bringing to the attention of the house the importance of managing and continuing to manage these issues, prosecuting where appropriate and having policies and programs to support them, but we do not need another committee of inquiry.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (11:58): Mr Speaker, I am just trying to think about where to start in terms of responding to the comments from the Attorney-General. Both the Attorney and I have pointed out the research of Associate Professor Marinella Marmo and her team at Flinders University, which was also supported by ACRATH and has been endorsed and supported by many churches, support community organisations, unions, and women's organisations.

What I find extraordinary is that the key recommendation in that fine, outstanding research—as I said, it is research that is deeply underpinned by compassion, values and a desire to make sure that people live their lives free of exploitation—from that incredible, wise body of people is to be ignored by—

The SPEAKER: Does the member for Reynell wish to seek leave or to call the matter to a vote?

Ms HILDYARD: I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

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