Newly appointed independent federal Anti-Slavery Commissioner Chris Evans has praised the work of the Australian Catholic Anti-slavery Network.
In brief remarks at an ACAN end-of-year function, Mr Evans warmly praised the network’s collaborative approach to building capacity across its membership.
The new commissioner pledged his support to businesses that uncover people in modern slavery while responding in good faith to Australia’s Modern Slavery Act.
He also stressed that victim identification and remediation was the purpose of the reporting process, not simply an exercise in compliance.
Mr Evans also said that the Domus 8.7 remediation service, which provides advice and support to Catholic entities who identify possible cases of modern slavery, would provide critical assistance for businesses to safely triage potential cases of modern slavery encountered in the course of their due diligence.
He attended the ACAN event on the third day in his historic new role. He previously served as a senator and immigration minister and went on to work as an executive with the global anti-slavery group, Walk Free.
ACAN lived experience leader Moe Turaga also addressed guests at the function, saying he and his colleagues were looking forward to working with Mr Evans again.
“Everyone who has worked so hard over many years for a federal Anti-slavery Commissioner is very excited – and it is great to celebrate how far we’ve come together,” Mr Turaga said.
“It’s been a big year in modern slavery in Australia, and next year promises to be even bigger.”
“In ACAN, we are pushing forward the Australian response to modern slavery; we have created a community around us as we go.
“Advent and Christmas are a hopeful time of year. I am full of hope for 2025 for people suffering extreme exploitation that we will find better ways to lift the burden on them.”
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