August Action Against Slavery
Was there slavery in Australia? YES!! It shouldn’t even be a debate!!
From early settlement Australia’s Indigenous Peoples were forced to work unpaid on cattle stations, Chief Protector in the Northern Territory in 1927 wrote, “in a servitude that is nothing short of slavery”? Tens of thousands of Pacific Islanders were kidnapped or coerced to work as slave labourers on cotton and sugar plantations here, a practice known as “blackbirding”
Think slavery in Australia was all in the past? Think again!!
Forced labour, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and forced marriage: modern slavery in Australia hides in plain sight. So how can we prevent it?
Social Justice Sunday is observed on the last Sunday in August. Talk with 5 – 6 others about the possibility of setting up a Social Justice Group in your parish to keep before parishioners the call of the Scriptures and the Church’s social teaching to act justly. By raising awareness about human trafficking and modern slavery these crimes become more visible making it harder for people to exploit others.
