Statement by NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner Dr James Cockayne on the Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW)

21 March 2025

NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner, Dr James Cockayne said:

“The release of the formal Government Response to the recent Report of the NSW Modern Slavery Committee concludes the statutory Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW) (‘the Act’).

“I commend the efforts of the NSW Parliament’s Modern Slavery Committee, led by Chair Dr Joe McGirr MP and Deputy Chair Jenny Leong MP, to undertake a detailed and thorough review of the Act. I am grateful to the many stakeholders that provided their expertise and insights to the Review through written submissions and oral evidence.

“The Committee went to considerable lengths to create a safe and welcoming environment in which survivors could share their expertise. I applaud those survivors who, at risk of re-traumatization, came forward to engage with the Committee and had such a profound impact on the Committee’s findings.

“I particularly welcomed the Committee’s recommendations of changes to the Act that would have:

• Put survivor participation in NSW anti-slavery efforts on a stronger statutory footing
• Helped ensure adequate funding for NSW anti-slavery efforts
• Ensured law enforcement actors receive actionable briefs where indicators of modern slavery arise

“These recommendations were made unanimously, including by Committee members from Government ranks.

“Unfortunately, the NSW Government has declined to support nearly all of these recommendations.

“This is a missed opportunity which will disappoint many stakeholders fighting modern slavery in New South Wales – especially survivors.

“As the Modern Slavery Committee found, engaging with survivors of modern slavery provides valuable insights into both the systemic failures that allow modern slavery in our state to occur, and the realities faced by victim-survivors as they seek remedy and justice. This engagement also helps survivors recover the agency their modern slavery experience has stolen from them.

“I am concerned that the NSW Government does not appear to have consulted with survivors before deciding not to support the Committee’s Recommendations.

“This absence of consultation with those most affected, and the Government’s decision not to support the Recommendations, even simply to amend the Act to require the Anti-slavery Commissioner to include survivors in the Commissioner’s Advisory Panel, risks sending survivors a signal of disinterest in their expertise. Survivors may not feel heard.

“We must ensure survivors know that policymakers and decision-makers in New South Wales value their contribution. Survivors have just as critical a role to play in effective anti-slavery efforts as they do in efforts to tackle Domestic Family and Sexual Violence, disability and other issues involving vulnerable groups.

“I invite NSW elected leaders and policy makers to take this opportunity to engage with people with lived experience of modern slavery and the work of my Office. It is only through this direct understanding of their experiences of exploitation and of the strengths and weaknesses of our current response, that we can move forward together towards a NSW that fully realises the human right to be free from modern slavery.

“In the coming weeks and months, I will be announcing a series of initiatives to enhance opportunities for such engagement. To learn more, please subscribe to my Office’s newsletter here.”