Canberra
The Gillard Government today announced a new Australian Government Anti-Slavery Initiative which seeks to eliminate modern slavery in Australia and overseas.
In 2013, as we celebrate International Women's Day, the Gillard Government will ensure that its procurement rules and practices assist in identifying and stamping out slavery.
Slavery and people-trafficking are crimes that affect almost every nation on earth - as either source, transit or destination countries. And it is not a phenomenon to which Australia is immune.
That is why we are announcing this whole of government strategy which improves procurement arrangements by:
- Processes: the Department of Finance and Deregulation will ensure that Commonwealth procurement arrangements adequately identify slavery as an important issue when considering the ethical behaviour of suppliers.
- Advice to Agencies: the Department of Finance and Deregulation will issue revised procurement guidance to reinforce the need for specific actions or behaviours to eliminate the chances of slavery being used in supply chains.
- Training: the Department of Finance and Deregulation will strengthen training and development arrangements for Commonwealth procurement officers to reinforce specific legal and policy requirements, including reporting of breaches of policy.
The Gillard Government is a significant contributor to the national economy and our economic footprint extends to all industries and regions.
The Commonwealth will show leadership in the fight against slavery, and we encourage state, territory and local Governments and businesses and organisations of all sizes to participate in this effort.
Over the past decade, more than 20 million people around the world have been the subject of forced labour, slavery and human trafficking.
Eighty per cent of them are women - women who are poor, who have little or no education, who are victims of domestic violence, who are shut-out from economic opportunities and who shoulder family responsibilities without legal or financial support.
This year as part of Australia's membership of the United Nations Security Council and as we move to host the G20 in 2014, Australia will continue to pursue global action to combat slavery and people-trafficking.
Four months ago, the Gillard Government announced funding of $50 million to continue the Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons program that trains police officers, prosecutors and judges to better combat people-trafficking in our region.
Our aid program supports initiatives to prevent violence against women, increase educational opportunity, and create economic opportunity within communities.
Today's announcement complements work done over the last nine years, where the Australian Government has invested over $150 million in anti-people trafficking measures.
In fact, we take all the funds confiscated from criminals convicted of trafficking and slavery and give them to NGOs in this field.
As a result, we've been able to help around 200 women and their dependents in Australia.
Yesterday, the Governor-General signed into law the Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and People Trafficking Act which passed through both Houses of Parliament last month.
This legislation creates new offences of forced marriage and harbouring a victim, and standalone offences of forced labour and organ trafficking.
It ensures that those who help people commit trafficking, slavery or slavery-like offences can be charged as well as the primary perpetrators.
It raises the penalties for existing debt bondage offences, and also increases the availability of reparations to victims.
Alongside these new laws, we are updating Australia's National Action Plan to combat trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices, such as forced marriage - which will come into force next year.