Dr MARJORIE O'NEILL (Coogee) (20:41:14): Modern day slavery is one of the greatest continuing plights on New South Wales and Australian society. All people have a right to live freely without fear of control or violence. Yet we continue to see the severe exploitation of people for personal or commercial gain. Modern day slavery is all around us, but often sits just out of sight. People can become entrapped working in industries we engage with every day making clothes, serving food, picking crops, working in factories, even working in homes in suburbs across New South Wales as cooks, cleaners or nannies; migrant workers being paid below minimum wages and working long hours; a child bride being forced to marry her father; child labour in its worst form.

There is growing evidence that modern slavery is alive and well in New South Wales and Australia. The electorate of Coogee is home to the Sisters of Charity Foundation, which, with the Salvation Army, is partnering to help the estimated 15,000 people who live in slavery-like conditions in Australia today by providing transitional housing to survivors of modern slavery. While I am incredibly thankful for the work of the Sisters of Charity and the Salvation Army in helping to rebuild the lives of those victims, the Government's inaction to address modern day slavery in New South Wales is astounding. In 2018 the New South Wales Parliament, with wide public support, passed the Modern Slavery Bill 2018 in both Houses. It was given royal assent, but the Act has since been blocked from coming into force by this democratically elected government.

Two years later, a law that is fundamental in protecting human rights has still not come into force because of the complete inaction of the Berejiklian Liberal-Nationals Government. This is despite the fact that the New South Wales Government's own anti-slavery website had decried modern slavery as an evil affecting at least 40 million people worldwide and thousands in Australia. The New South Wales Government should be leading, not lagging when it comes to addressing fundamental human rights. Yet that is exactly what we are seeing here. Instead it is choosing to pass the buck towards Federal laws, with lower standards than that of the New South Wales legislation, which is debasing of this Parliament and all those who worked to have the New South Wales bill passed in this place.

In the clear absence of action from the New South Wales Government a number of non-government organisations are leading the way to stop human exploitation in Australia. The Australian Catholic Anti-Slavery Network has taken a leading position in the abolition of slavery in Australia and Australian supply chains. Catholic entities have taken the lead in ensuring that human exploitation is removed from Australian supply chains. By conducting risk assessments on supply chains and engaging with suppliers Catholic entities have been able to reduce the risk that people held in modern slavery have been exploited during the production of goods or services used by Catholic entities.

This is a step that all businesses and government agencies in New South Wales should be undertaking to ensure that they are not profiting from the exploitation of our fellow humans. The Catholic Church's action in this area is of particular importance in light of the fact that in the 2019-20 financial year the Australian Federal Police received 223 reports of human trafficking, including 92 reports of forced marriage, 40 reports of sexual servitude and exploitation, 29 reports of forced labour, 28 reports of trafficking in persons, 20 reports of domestic servitude, six reports of deceptive recruiting, four reports of trafficking in children, three reports of debt bondage and one report of direct slavery. I am incredibly grateful for the efforts of the Sisters of Charity Foundation, the Australian Catholic Anti-Slavery Network, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and Anti-Slavery Australia. The continued advocacy of those organisations is crucial to ensure that our State finally takes strong action to eradicate modern slavery.

Again I remind this House that in 2018 the Parliament of New South Wales passed legislation to help eradicate modern slavery in New South Wales. Now in 2020 we find ourselves in the grip of a pandemic that has made work much more tenuous for many thousands of people, without the legislation to protect those who are most vulnerable. Those at greatest risk of exploitation, such as migrants, refugees and temporary visa holders, are finding themselves in increasingly insecure work because of the current economic downturn. It is an absolute disgrace that the legislation has not yet been proclaimed. The time for review has long passed. Now is the time to implement this important legislation. I thank the House.