• Supporting anti-slavery legislation

Mark Dreyfus, Attorney General (centre) with Justine Elliott, Assistant Minister for Social services (at left) led the commemoration of the crime bill. Jennifer Kirkaldy is behind Mark Dreyfus, Heather Moore is behind Jennifer (right) and Major Peter McGuigan (back row in Army uniform), second from right.

A small Salvation Army team recently attended the 10th-anniversary commemoration of royal assent of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and People Trafficking) Bill. This bill included inserting forced marriage and creating separate offences for forced labour and organ trafficking in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

Heather Moore, Responsible Sourcing Manager; Jennifer Kirkaldy, General Manager Policy and Advocacy; and Major Peter McGuigan, Head of Government Relations, attended the event at Parliament House, Canberra.

The Salvation Army has played a key role for many years in research and advocacy support for Australian legislation against slavery, trafficking and forced marriage, including the Modern Slavery Act 2018. This work continues today, across many fronts.

The team acknowledge that, although legislation passed to date is important, there is still much work that needs to be done.

“We want to see real and lasting change in the lives of people who are providing the goods and services we rely on every day,” Heather said, when the Modern Slavery Act was passed. “This is a long journey, and The Salvation Army has been instrumental in getting this bill across the line. We will continue to be there every step of the way.”