News

The Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner has welcomed the Australian Government’s launch of an internal review of the Training (subclass 407) visa program as an important step towards strengthening protections for vulnerable migrant workers.

The Office of the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner welcomes the major new report released today by the Migrant Justice Institute, Off the Books: Inside Australia's Hidden System of Migrant Worker Exploitation, which exposes how systemic wage underpayment and labour non-compliance are driving serious exploitation of migrant workers across Australia.

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Australia and the European Union (EU) will bring welcome export opportunities for Australian businesses, but will also result in increased scrutiny of how Australian businesses manage modern slavery risks, including forced labour, across their operations and supply chains.

The push to introduce mandatory human rights due diligence to better protect people from exploitation has been strengthened by a recommendation from the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The Office of the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner has published an initial position paper setting out recommendations to strengthen Australia's modern slavery laws.

The findings of an inquest handed down into the death of Jerwin Royupa have exposed serious inadequacies in the protection of overseas trainees and highlighted the vulnerability of training visa holders under Australia's current visa framework.

The Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner welcomes last Friday’s announcement from the Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, to fund an extension of the Additional Referral Pathway (ARP). The ARP enables victims of modern slavery-related crimes to access support and services without having to engage authorities.

A report released last week by Griffith University, UNSW and ANU highlights a serious and often overlooked issue associated with the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme: the vulnerability of disengaged workers living in Australia without valid visas or work rights.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has today released an update to its 2024 guidance on sustainability collaborations. This updated guidance includes new examples of modern slavery focused collaborative activities that are unlikely to raise competition law concerns, developed in partnership with the Office of the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

The Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner has welcomed the findings of the Modern Slavery Disclosure Quality Report FY24, released today by the Monash Centre for Financial Studies.