The Australian Catholic Anti-slavery Network has welcomed the inaugural strategic plan for the office of Australia’s Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland launched the plan, titled “Building Australia’s Ambition and Impact – Strengthening the response to modern slavery”, on October 22.
The strategic plan sets the direction for the commissioner’s work across government, business, and civil society for the next three years.
More than 250 stakeholders, including ACAN, were part of the consultation, which incorporated the lived experience of victim-survivors of modern slavery.
ACAN lived experience consultant Moe Turaga was one survivor who contributed significantly to the strategic plan’s development.
“For those of us who have lived through the realities of exploitation, slavery is not a historical relic, but an experience etched into our memory,” Mr Turaga wrote in a foreword for the plan.
“My experience is that we’re not merely subjects, but architects and guardians of this plan.”
To evidence Mr Turaga’s point, the strategic plan’s first priority is “transforming systems to centre survivors and people with lived experience”.
The other three priorities are strengthening law and policy on modern slavery, better due diligence by business and government, and improving access to justice and remedy for survivors. The most recent Global Slavery Index estimated that on any given day, there are at least 41,000 individuals living in modern slavery in Australia, although the actual figure is likely to be higher and growing.
In welcoming the new strategic plan, ACAN program manager Jenny Stanger said it reflected the strong survivor-led practice that has guided ACAN’s work over the past seven years.
“The strategic plan and the acknowledgement Moe Turaga’s work are a testament to Catholic leadership on the response to modern slavery in Australia,” Ms Stanger said.
“An important aspect of our work that we believe embodies best practice, is our survivor-centred approach in the ACAN Program and Domus 8.7 remediation service.”
“Moe Turaga has been part of the Catholic response to modern slavery in Australia since the passage of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act. He is now employed by ACAN as a lived experience advisor on a full-time basis. Moe is the person who most frequently represents ACAN’s anti-slavery work in the public sphere,” Ms Stanger said.
The Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Chris Evans, described the new national strategy and amendment of the existing Modern Slavery Act as, “critical decision points that will determine the shape and success of Australia’s efforts for years to come.”
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