Punching above their weight — Australian international agencies aligning to counter slavery.

The first quarter of the 21st century has seen a host of Australian based (and often globally affiliated) agencies start up to provide a direct avenue for everyday Australians to make an impact in combatting slavery around the world through ‘on-the-ground’ casework and system reform programs.

Well before the advent of modern slavery acts or human rights due diligence legislation, people of good will organised to fund programs that addressed individual cases of people enslaved or severely exploited, and support systemic and holistic improvements to communities in partnership with local governments.

Every year, international counter slavery agencies invite Australians — individuals, businesses and governments — to partner through donations or grants for the purpose of directly protecting people in our region from all forms of slavery that is still being perpetrated today.

Slavery constitutes an array of severe human rights violations, and in the contemporary world could include forced labour, debt bondage, human trafficking, servitude, online sexual exploitation and abuse of children and forced marriage.

Despite being illegal internationally since the Slavery Convention of 1926, the phenomenon of someone owning another human being for the purpose of exploitation and profit is a ubiquitous feature in our global economic systems.

Encouragingly, at the same time, consumer attitudes have shifted. 36% of shoppers in Australia and New Zealand consider child labour when making purchasing decisions, and just under 42% of Australian’s believe that their purchasing practices can contribute to ending modern slavery.[1]

But few are aware of the generosity of Australians who go a step further and donate an estimated $15.6 million (2023) directly to these agencies to support counter-slavery programs outside of Australia.[2]

Despite a relatively small resource pool, these Australian not-for-profit organisations (along with additional funding from other countries) supported hundreds of thousands of people at risk of or surviving slavey in communities around the world in 2023.

Here is a snapshot of the combined impact these Australian counter slavery agencies operating around the world had in 2023:

• Assisted law enforcement to support more than 15,000 people to escape, be rescued or be relieved from slavery including forced labour and human trafficking, or other forms of violence;
• Supported 235,000 people directly or through on-the-ground partners and governments, who may be vulnerable to slavery;
• Received more than 24,000 reports of suspected slavery, trafficking or exploitation cases, through community prevention initiatives or hotlines.
• Trained more than 79,000 people across civil society, public sector and criminal justice officials to prevent and protect communities from slavery and other forms of violence, and prosecute perpetrators in local courts;
• Held accountable dozens of perpetrators, including through assisting in the investigation and arrests of suspects, or seeking convictions for forced labour or trafficking in court.
• Assisted the restoration and empowerment of more than 3000 survivors of slavery and trafficking, through high quality, trauma informed and gender sensitive models of care, as well as skills and vocational training.
• Reached millions around the globe with prevention communication and social behaviour change campaigns.

Combined, these agencies work to counter slavery across at least 13 countries in the Asia and the Pacific, including Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines, Nepal, India, Afghanistan, Solomon Islands, Singapore, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

There is an estimated 29.4 million people experiencing some form of slavery in Asia and the Pacific according to the Global Slavery Index, including 15.1 million in forced labour — the highest number of people of any region in the world.

At the same time as Australian’s are digging into their own pockets to directly protect people from slavery and support survivors, thousands of businesses are spending at least $150 million annually (at an average cost of $38,704 per entity) on the development of digital Modern Slavery Statements as required under the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act (2018).[3]

Since the act came into force, these expenses could amount to more than half a billion dollars.

To put it another way, for every $1 donated by Australians to make a direct difference to people’s lives overseas, an estimated $10 is being spent by the private sector (primarily those entities with a turn over of more than $100m) to develop statements and reports on risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.[4]

By requiring big business and other entities to report on their efforts to address modern slavery, the Act had in it a built-in assumption that improved transparency in business conduct could prevent people from falling victim to slavery and allow for redress or remedy for those who had.

But what evidence of impact is there that it has had on protecting victims or supporting survivors?

It remains unclear if the lives of people affected by slavery around the world including in global supply chains have been directly improved or victims provided remediation at scale as a result of the 4000 entities reporting under the Act.

An analysis released early in 2024 found that there was “there is little evidence the law is driving meaningful action by companies to lift conditions for supply chain workers at high risk of exploitation.”[5]

While much effort has gone into the generation of modern slavery statements and general awareness raising of the risks to business, there has been a net increase of 2.7 million people in forced labour in just the last five years (with the private sector actors responsible for 86% of it).[7]

In addition, the annual profit per victim of forced labour has grown 21% in the last 10 years (adjusted for inflation) and is now US$62.4 billion in Asia and the Pacific alone.

With surging harm to people, and enormous profits going to exploiters, there is comparably very limited direct investment by Australia — both private and public sector — to counter slavery and human trafficking in our region and around the world.

According to the Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Penny Wong, the Australian government provided up to $24 million of Official Development Assistance in the 2022–2023 financial year to combat modern slavery.[8] This is only marginally more than the $20 million raised privately (donations and grants) by all of Australia’s counter slavery agencies in 2023.

However, this contribution from the Australian government against the back-drop of a comparably huge problem affecting people across the region is in line with recent trends. A United Nations University report[9] found that across more than 2 million official aid projects from 2000 to 2017, on average less and USD 12 per victim of slavery was committed in aggregate international aid.

There is so much more that could and should be done to effectively counter slavery through direct interventions in partnership with Australian counter slavery agencies and their partners already working in the region.

The opportunity for innovative public, private and philanthropic partnerships to scale direct, evidence-based interventions to counter slavery is upon us now as we approach 100 years since Australia signed up to the Slavery Convention on June 18th, 1927. The moral case for increased investment today is clear as it was to act on the global stage a century ago.

And so, it is timely that eight Australian international counter slavery NGOs have come together under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate and align ahead of the 2025 Federal election.

These agencies include A21 Australia, Bloom Asia, Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, Destiny Rescue Australia, Eden Australia, Global Counter-Trafficking Group, Hagar Australia and IJM Australia.

This the first time the international counter slavery sector will engage Australia’s political representatives and candidates as one, and it will also allow the agencies to explore the potential of organising as an Australian International Counter Slavery Alliance (AICSA).

It comes at a pivotal time following on from the United Nations Summit for the Future, where Australia joined other countries in commiting “to intensify international, regional and national efforts to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and trafficking in persons (Action 35 of the United Nation’s Pact for the Future, September 2024).”

How can Australia increase our public and private investments to partner with civil society organisations and governments in our region to sustainably counter and prevent all forms of slavery, while also supporting survior leaders who are driving change across many local communities?

As allies to people who have survived and now thrive free from slavery, we will consult with and elevate their leadership to inform both our advocacy and what should be Australia’s priorities when tackling this the issue internationally.

As it is today, there is no forum or mechanism by which survivors of slavery located in the region are heard by the Australian government or private sector peak bodies to assist in informing our international response to the issue.

All members of AICSA are already in the process of listening to and being guided by survivors in their respective programs, and so is well placed to enable consultations with survivor leaders and other stakeholders from across the region.

This, and many other direct investments in partnership with trusted civil society agencies working across prevention, protection, remediation and law enforcement could greatly advance a future where our Asia and Pacific region enjoys a human rights economy, free of slavery.

References

[1] GlobeScan Fairtrade Consumer Insights Report 2021 and The Australian Ethical Consumer Report 2023: Exploring the ethical attitudes and consumption behaviours of Australians.

[2] Total revenue (including private and public grants, and other revenue) in 2023 was $21.1 million in 2023 to these agencies according to the Charity Register of the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission (ACNC)

[3] This is based on a survey of 496 of more than 4000 entities who have reported to the Australian Government Modern Slavery Register (Source: Statutory Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018)

[4] These are signed by their directors and published on the Attorney General’s Modern Slavery Statements Register — https://modernslaveryregister.gov.au/

[5] https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/04/companies-support-stronger-modern-slavery-laws–new-research

[6] https://consultations.ag.gov.au/crime/modern-slavery-act-review/

[7] https://www.ilo.org/topics/forced-labour-modern-slavery-and-trafficking-persons/data-and-research-forced-labour

[8] Speech at the Modern slavery conference, Melbourne,, 28June 2023, https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/speech/modern-slavery-conference-melbourne

[9] James Cockayne, Developing Freedom: The Sustainable Development Case for Ending Modern Slavery, Forced Labour and Human Trafficking (United Nations University: New York, 2021)