The paper evaluates legal protections and social support systems for victims of trafficking and slavery in Australia within a human rights framework based on the United Nations Protocol to Prevent and Suppress Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the UN Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking. A major focus of the paper is the evaluation of a system of visas offered by the Australian government to victims of trafficking and slavery. The paper argues that the visa system and social support program is restricted to the assistance of victims who participate in the criminal justice process, thereby limiting state protection of victims of trafficking and slavery.
In this paper, I will explore the Australian context of human trafficking and slavery by reviewing narratives drawn from two separate coronial inquiries into the deaths of two people who were never legally recognised as being trafficked into Australia. Puongtong Simaplee died in Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney on 26 September 2001, and Manjit Singh died on 26 August 2011 in the intensive care unit of a Sydney hospital from complications of surgery.
In all its different manifestations modern slavery involves the abuse of power and the violation of human rights. In this article, we examine whether Australia is meeting its international obligations to provide access to effective remedies to survivors of modern slavery. We argue that Australia must squarely confront the violations of human rights suffered by survivors of modern slavery by improving access to remedies, including compensation. We recommend establishing a national compensation scheme, providing survivors with greater assistance to apply for reparation orders, and improving access to support and protection. These reforms are necessary to give effect to Australia’s commitment to prevent, address and remedy the human rights abuses and enable survivors to access effective remedies.
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