Submission to Senate inquiry into the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023 (Cth)
In a submission to a Senate inquiry into the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023 (Cth), the Human Rights Law Centre welcomed the new proposed Anti-Slavery Commissioner, but said it needed greater enforcement and investigatory powers to fulfil its mandate.
The Centre is calling for the proposed Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s role to be expanded to explicitly include:
Monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Modern Slavery Act (including through the issuing of penalties or infringement notices);
Undertaking investigations to detect and expose cases of modern slavery; and
Receiving complaints and supporting workers subjected to modern slavery to seek redress.
The budget for the office (currently set at $8 million over 4 years) should be expanded to support these additional functions.