‘First principles’ in combating modern slavery in New South Wales
Early thoughts from NSW’s new Anti-slavery Commissioner
It is a huge privilege and responsibility to take on the role of Anti-slavery Commissioner for New South Wales.
I started in the role 2 weeks ago on 1 August. I come to this role from a career in anti-slavery, human rights, ESG and international criminal law, with roles in the public, private, charitable and research sectors both in Australia and overseas, especially New York and Africa. Those of you who don’t know me might want to refer to this short bio.
With a couple of weeks in the role under my belt, I thought it would be useful to share a few thoughts with those interested in combating modern slavery in New South Wales about my orientation, the future direction of my work — and next steps in months ahead. Think of this as a set of ‘first principles’, from which I intend to work in seeking to implement the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW).
If you haven’t read that Act, I’d encourage you to do so. It went through quite a complex gestation, and the result in both that Act and related changes to other NSW legislation, is a sophisticated and often ground-breaking set of measures encompassing victim identification and support, public procurement and audit, a hotline, new ‘Codes of Practice’ and much else besides. As someone who was born and grew up in NSW, I’m proud of the world-leading features of this legislation. I see it as offering a great opportunity for leadership, innovation and impact in the fight against modern slavery.
People
Modern slavery is all about denying people their full personhood — their agency and self-determination. Our responses should be focused on people.
That means a central focus on identifying and assisting victims and survivors. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) requires me to take a number of steps in years ahead to do just this, including developing a support hotline. Supporting the New South Wales Police Force and other relevant entities to strengthen investigation and prosecution of modern slavery and related offences will be a top priority.
Victims of modern slavery in NSW also now have access to the state’s scheme for supporting victims of crime, which includes access to counselling, emergency financing, financial assistance for economic loss, recognition payments and more. This offers important new opportunities for strengthening survivor voice, agency and self-determination.
We also need to maintain a focus on people in efforts aimed more at changing institutions and systems, whether that’s public policies and laws, or business practice. In tackling ‘modern slavery risk’ in supply-chains and public procurement, for example, I will push for a focus on risks to people, not just risks to business.
Fortunately, there are many tools available for doing this, and the underlying NSW — and Commonwealth — frameworks are rooted in relevant international labour and human rights standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and OECD Guidelines on responsible business conduct. Related learning worldwide on due diligence and remedy can inform our efforts in New South Wales and help us accelerate impact.
Inclusion and collaboration
Modern slavery emerges where systems allow illegal exploitation of vulnerable people. One of the key lessons in the field over the last decade is that systems change requires multi-sector collaboration, and a highly inclusive approach. I aim to foster collaboration across NSW to combat modern slavery.
This will begin with the development of a Strategic Plan, as required under section 11 of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW). Over the next few months I will be asking you for your input and ideas as we develop this Strategic Plan. We will identify specific issues on which we are seeking feedback and offer a range of ways to provide this input. Watch this space!
As we tackle modern slavery, I anticipate working closely with both NSW government entities and also non-government stakeholders: business, unions, investors, civil society, the research community, the media. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) empowers my office to provide information, advice, education and training in a variety of contexts. It also empowers me to establish ‘Codes of Practice’ on identifying and remediating modern slavery risks in supply-chains; to be effective, these may need to be developed in collaboration with relevant enterprises and stakeholders.
Independence and transparency
Collaboration must be built on trust, and trust in turn depends on integrity. The Act makes my independence from government clear. That independence will be most effective if it is coupled with transparency, providing assurance of integrity. You can expect me to be clear and forthcoming both about my own plans, and the norms, standards and expectations underpinning my oversight actions, analysis and advice.
This post is, in a sense, a first step in that direction, setting out some first principles for how I intend to go forward. At a more practical level, work is already under way to bring clarity, transparency and certainty to the standards of conduct expected of various entities under the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW), and related legislation. Again, watch this space.
You can expect regular and two-way communication with me. To that end, if you have any thoughts you wish to share in response to this post, or more generally on NSW’s efforts to combat modern slavery, I invite you to contact me on Commissioner.Cockayne@courts.nsw.gov.au or on 0455 255 453.
Evidence, research and innovation
Effective action to address modern slavery is only possible if it is rooted in a strong foundation of evidence. But with a strong evidentiary base comes the opportunity for innovation in how we respond, and the ability to learn what works. And through innovation reducing modern slavery, we can unlock welfare — and economic — gains for the community as a whole. That in turn will allow us to convince more people that the investments in combating modern slavery are not only intrinsically justified, but also instrumental to achieving other public policy goals such as economic growth, sustainable development, a just transition to renewable energy, gender equality and child protection.
New South Wales has an opportunity to be a leader in this area, and to reap a range of rewards. The first step must be to strengthen the evidence base. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) provides us elements with which to build a robust system gathering both formal (legal) evidence and broader data about modern slavery, risk, responses — and outcomes. These range from a hotline — which has been integral to developing sound, actionable insights into victim populations, typologies and perpetrator behaviours in the US and UK — to extensive public sector supply-chain due diligence and reporting requirements, as well as case management by relevant government agencies. Developing a framework for responsible capture, sharing and use of comparable, reliable data, across these contexts, may unlock new innovation opportunities — while also delivering more effective and efficient outcomes for people.
New South Wales is also already home to a number of organizations developing innovative responses to modern slavery risk. These range from use of trade data to predict risk in supply-chains, to innovation in investor engagement, to innovation in responses to forced marriage and online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC). I aim to support and expand these innovation efforts. One way I will do that is by exploring cooperation with the world-class university and research institutions in the state (and beyond), several of which are already producing cutting edge research on modern slavery risks and responses.
Honesty
Modern slavery flourishes in silence. If we want to combat modern slavery in New South Wales, we need to foster a culture of honesty. Honesty about the presence of these crimes and their lasting toll. Honesty about the risks of modern slavery in supply-chains — encouraging disclosure, not penalizing it. Honesty about where we are succeeding and where we can do better in our responses. And honesty about the complex and continuing legacies of coerced labour, exploitation and abuse in our own institutions and communities over the last two and a half centuries.
We cannot hope to prevent and address modern slavery in the future if we are not honest with ourselves about the role that forced labour, trafficking, slavery like practices and exploitation have played in the state’s past. And how they continue to affect us today.
Next steps
This is, I hope, the beginning not only of a conversation, but also of a process of cooperation and productive collaboration. This has to be a two-way street.
From my side, in months ahead, please watch this space for more details on:
· A Strategic Planning process. This will be an opportunity for you to have your say on how I should discharge my powers and meet my responsibilities under the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW), and to help develop a shared vision of how NSW can combat modern slavery.
· Hiring. I will shortly be inviting applications for numerous positions to support my work. This will include policy analysis, research, communications, project management, training and advisory, and corporate support roles. I will be looking for a team with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Keep an eye out on my socials ( Twitter; LinkedIn) and on the jobs page of the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
From your side — I welcome your input and engagement. I’m listening. If you have feedback or thoughts to share, concerns about modern slavery in NSW or other related queries, you can contact me on : Commissioner.Cockayne@courts.nsw.gov.au or 0455 255 453.
I look forward to engaging.
