Inaugural Anti-Slavery Australia Freedom Awards

Congratulations to Sr Pauline Col sgs and Sr Louise Cleary csb who were named as recipients of Freedom Awards at a Ceremony in Canberra this week.  The Freedom Awards were developed by Anti-Slavery Australia using federal funding from the Proceeds of Crime Act.  A media release from the Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Mr Brendan O’Connor. included the following citations.

Sister Louise Cleary CSB, Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH)
Brigidine Sister Louise Cleary is Chair and a founding member of ACRATHs National Committee. Sr Louise has made a significant and dynamic contribution to the ongoing work of ACRATH in raising the community profile of human trafficking both internationally and in Australia, inspiring collaboration between community groups and identifying the need for legislative and policy change.

Sister Pauline Coll SGS, Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH)
Sister Pauline Coll is a member of the Good Samaritan order and was the inaugural chair and a driving force of ACRATH.  Sister Pauline has been indefatigable in her personal endeavours to get human trafficking on the government and community agenda, forging effective and enduring partnerships with a range of diverse groups.

Draft Legislation Announced at National Roundtable

At the National NGO Roundtable on People Trafficking held in Canberra on Wednesday 23rd November the Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Brendan O’Connor MP, reported on Australia’s efforts to fight the crime of people trafficking and affirmed the work of NGOs in this area. Also present at the Roundtable was the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Person, Ms Joy Ngozi Ezeilo.  Mr O’Connor announced that forced marriage and slavery-like practices will become a crime under draft legislation to combat people trafficking and slavery, released as part of today’s Fourth National Roundtable on People Trafficking. The draft legislation can be found on the Attorney-General’s Department website. For more information click on the following links:

Media Release on the draft legislation

Crimes Legislation Amendment (Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and People Trafficking) Bill 2012(Draft)

Progress on Support for the Education of Girls

Over recent weeks Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP, has spoken in favour of increasing education opportunities for girls.  At the launch of Plan International’s report, Because I am a Girl, Mr Rudd commented that “a girl in southern Sudan today is more likely to die in child birth than she is to finish primary school.”   He also expressed his hope that the  total share of the Australian aid budget dedicated to lifting education levels around the world would be raised from 19 to 25 percent of our total aid budget.

For more information follow the links below:

Because I am a Girl Report

Launch of Plan International’s ‘Because I am a Girl‘ Report

Australian College of Educators 2011 – Biennial Bassett Oration

Anti-Human Trafficking Newsletter Vol 9 No 11

The November issue of this newsletter highlights methods used to expose sex and labour trafficking and the issues feeding it.  Click here to read the newsletter.

Latest ACRATH News

 In the latest ACRATH Newsletter read about the Minister for Home Affairs and Justice, Brendan O’Connor MP and Mr Michael Danby MP visiting the ACRATH office, the Community Awareness Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) projects beginning in four states,  the presentation of a motion on the Harkin-Engel Protocol being presented in Federal Parliament, news from the ACRATH State groups and more.

Click here to read the Newsletter.

Raising Awareness about Human Trafficking

Recently Murdoch University held an open day. Part of the display from the Law Department included a display board with information on human trafficking through question and answer. A chocolate fondue enticed many visitors to consider not only information about trafficking but advertised fair trade. During the day there was a constant flow of people to the display, asking questions and tasting the chocolate. (Left:  photo of information board).

In September an ACRATH member spoke to over 50 Year 9 and 10 students from a Muslim school in Morley, Western Australia. The young women came from Africa and Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Iran, Bahrain, etc. The students were particularly appalled to think that children would be trafficked. They had no idea that human trafficking and slavery were so evident in our world. The variety of cultural backgrounds was a reminder of how easy it is to focus only on what is known and the importance of sharing information about trafficking with people from all cultures.

A Human Rights Approach to Trafficking in Persons

Ms Joy Ngozi Ezelio, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, will speak on A Human Rights Approach to Trafficking in Persons at the University of Technology, Sydney on Thursday 17th November.  Also speaking will be Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission, and Jennifer Burn, Director of Anti-Slavery Australia, University of Technology, Sydney.

For more information click here.