Yesterday, the Attorney General The Hon Mark Dreyfus announced the appointment of Australia’s first Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Chris Evans, previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Freedom Network of Walk Free and former Senator for Western Australia between 1993 and 2013, was appointed to the role.
The announcement from the Attorney General’s office noted that:
The Anti-Slavery Commissioner will further strengthen the work undertaken across government, business and civil society to prevent and respond to modern slavery by supporting victims and survivors, raising community awareness and helping business address the risk of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains.
The establishment of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner delivers on the Albanese Government’s election commitment to establish an independent Commissioner to lead the fight against modern slavery.
The Albanese Government committed $8 million over four years in the 2023-24 Budget to support the Commissioner’s establishment and operation.
The Anti-Slavery Commissioner will play a key role in helping to shape the implementation of future modern slavery reforms, including those arising from the statutory review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).
NSW was the first state to appoint an Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Dr James Cockayne has held this role since June 2022.
We congratulate Mr Evans on his appointment and look forward to working with the Commissioner to work toward ending modern slavery in Australia.
