Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans
November 30, 2014
Report for Mercy Global Action by Carole McDonald rsm Victorian Convenor
15 ACRATH members were in Canberra for advocacy from 22nd - 25th Sept. In Parliament teams of three or four were formed for meetings with politicians and/or their Advisors. This included 48 Members of the House of Representatives and 17 Senators. There were also several meetings outside Parliament, including the Papal Nuncio, Australian Institute of Criminology, Australian Catholic and Refugee Office, Catholic Social Services, Philippine Embassy and Salvation Army Freedom Project.
ACRATH acknowledged the bipartisan support for policy work on human trafficking. The process has included frank dialogue as well as formal national round tables.
Key points of advocacy included:
- Changes in the support provided to people who have experienced trafficking through the de-linking of financial support (Support for Trafficked People Program) from the participation in criminal justice matters. A system based on the rights and needs of the victim would be preferable as the current linking discriminates against people who are unable to participate in the criminal justice system.
- Changes to the names of visas which are available to people who have experienced trafficking to eliminate the descriptors “criminal justice” and “trafficking” in favour of descriptors which do not contribute to discrimination or labelling of people trying to move on with their lives.
- Access to quality English classes for victims of trafficking at all stages of their journey
- Review of the schemes for provision of financial compensation/assistance to victims of human trafficking crimes.
- A request for action from the government on the issue of slavery in the supply chain of goods being imported into Australia, with particular emphasis on the need for the commencement of the working party of the National Roundtable on Human Trafficking and Slavery convened to begin work in this area
Some Outcomes from the Advocacy Week
- Agreement by many MPs to raise with the Justice Minister the need to commence the Slavery Free Supply Chain working group
- Overwhelming support to re-name discriminatory visa titles
- A commitment by a large number of ministerial advisors to address visa titles and special benefits for trafficked people
- Recognition of our concern that new legislation will require trafficked people to wait six months before they can access Special Benefits
- Scheduling of a discussion re access to Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) on the agenda for the next National Roundtable on Human Trafficking and Slavery
- Improved follow-up documentation; we are going home with every interview typed up and collated, ready for follow-up action
- Strengthening ACRATH’s ability to advocate for justice.
Other Work
Numerous other activities have continued throughout the year, but because of the need for brevity, I cannot mention them here. Education Programs have continued as has the Radio Awareness Program.
I thought however that members might be more interested in hearing about our Advocacy work as printed in our recent Newsletter.
