Modern Slavery: Caroline Ashurst Award

Host:

At Ashurst, we acknowledge First Nations peoples as the traditional custodians of the land on which we work in Australia and pay our respects to their elders, past and present. We extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening today.

Helena Yeaman:

Hello, and welcome to ESG Matters @ Ashurst. My name is Helena Yeaman and I am the Social Impact Manager for modern slavery in Ashurst. Following on from our Matilda Ashurst podcast, which was released in June, this is a second in a four part series where we discuss the legacy of our founder, William Ashurst's four daughters, Elizabeth, Matilda, Caroline, and Emily, who poured their energy into the fight to abolish slavery and to obtain equality for women. You can find out more about these initiatives by reading our Modern Slavery Action Plan, which can be found on the Responsible Business page of our website. Our guests today are the recipients of the Caroline Ashurst Award. Caroline was a passionate advocate for the abolition of slavery, as well as the suffragette movement.

This award supports future trainees to spend their time supporting Anti-Slavery International in the UK, and Anti-Slavery Australia and Sydney before joining the firm. Through this, we hope to increase awareness in modern slavery issues amongst our newest stakeholders and nurture future connections between those organisations and our future leaders at Ashurst.

Here's our conversation. So welcome to our three Ashurst colleagues, we've got Sammy, Connor, and Adela here today. So perhaps you could just introduce yourselves, Connor starting with you, just explain kind of what your role is now in the firm and which Caroline Ashurst Award you had.

Connor Tarpey:

Hi, I'm Connor Tarpey, I was the inaugural recipient of the Caroline Ashurst Award in Australia, and I joined the firm in the beginning of last year, and I'm currently a lawyer in the Financial Regulation Practise in Sydney.

Helena Yeaman:

Thanks, Connor. Sammy?

Sammy Shannon:

Hi. I received the Caroline Ashurst Award last year, in 2021, to work with Anti-Slavery Australia. I joined Ashurst at the end of 2020 as a summer clock, and then rejoined this year as a graduate, and so I'm now in my second graduate rotation, currently working in the pro bono team.

Helena Yeaman:

Thanks, Sammy. And Adela.

Adela Mackie:

Hi, I'm Adela Mackie. I joined Anti-Slavery International through the Caroline Ashurst Award in May, 2021. I've since joined Ashurst as a trainee solicitor in March, 2022. And I'm in my first seat in dispute resolution.

Helena Yeaman:

Thank you. So Connor and Sammy, let's hear from you first, as you both are recipients who went to Anti-Slavery Australia. Connor, perhaps you could tell us a little bit more about Anti-Slavery Australia and what their work and focus is on.

Connor Tarpey:

Anti-Slavery Australia is the only specialist legal practise research and policy centre committed to the abolition of modern slavery in Australia. It was set up by professor Jennifer Burn, who was working with a team of students in the University of Technology Sydney community, the law centre in 2003, so nearly 20 years ago now. Over time, this project's expanded to become what Anti-slavery Australia is today. And even though it's still part of the university, it operates as an independent legal practise. Its primary focus is in advocating for policy changes and partnering with other organisation, but it also provides free legal advice and representation to those affected by modern slavery, as well as a service called My Blue Sky, which focuses on forced marriage.

So far, ASA has provided free and confidential legal advice to over 500 clients from over 40 countries and has also secured over one and a half million in compensation for victims. Slavery is a really barbaric practise, but at the same time, it's a very complex issue that transcends borders, jurisdictions, and cultures, and those that traffic and trade in slavery have become increasingly shrewd and sophisticated, so tackling this issue involves a multi-pronged approach that not only lifts people out of these conditions, but advocates and changes, wider societal attitudes and support systems through policy and legislation.

Helena Yeaman:

From what you said, a lot of people might think that slavery isn't really something that Australians have to worry about. I mean, even I've been to Australia all the way from the UK, and it doesn't seem like a country that would have victims of slavery. Can you set the scene? What's the picture in Australia? Is there slavery in Australia? What's the problem?

Connor Tarpey:

Yeah, so I think a lot of people think that slavery is sort of a thing of the past and is either a very small issue, or not an issue at all in today's sort of modern Western society, but unfortunately, slavery is more prevalent than ever in many ways. There are over 40 million people in modern slavery today, within Australia, forced marriage is also still huge issue, and as it is in the rest of the world with the onset of the pandemic, modern slavery has only gotten worse. 16 million people are exploited as part of the global supply chain, 25 million are in enforced labour and with the war in Ukraine and other humanitarian crisis, the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking, both within Europe and the rest of the world have only risen. These people along with the 5 million victims of sex trafficking and exploitation are some of society's most vulnerable and overlooked members and ASA is doing their part to lift them out of this horrible issue.

Helena Yeaman :

Thanks, Connor, that's just awful to hear. Perhaps we could move to Sammy, Sammy, have you got anything to add to this? Is there anything that surprised you about your work with Anti-Slavery Australia?

Sammy Shannon:

Following on from what you just said, Helena, I have always felt very fortunate to live in a country like Australia where we have strong democratic institutions and rule of law. And I think perhaps a lot of people are inclined to think that modern slavery is something that happens in sort of other far off parts of the world and not on our door step here in Australia, or in the UK in your case. But one of the things I came to realise very quickly while working with ASA is that modern slavery, it does occur in Australia at quite an alarming rate, really, but the issue is that it's insidious.

People are tricked with the promise of a good job and safe and respectful working conditions, and then they come to find that they were deceived or they're pushed into a marriage that they don't consent to because of family and cultural pressure. And I realised pretty quickly after starting to work with ASA, that slavery goes so far beyond what you think of when you picture people in shackles, in history books, and it's not just something that's taking place in other far off parts of the world, but it's happening here in Australia every day, and really it could happen to anyone.

Helena Yeaman:

Thanks, Sammy. I think that's really important, in fact, slavery is much worse than it ever was back in the days when we think of shackles and 200 years ago when Caroline Ashurst was fighting for the abolition of slavery, it wasn't as prevalent then as it is now, which is what's incredibly shocking.

Sammy Shannon:

I think one of the things is that perhaps it was more obvious in those days, whereas, these days it can really be hidden in plain sight, it can be workers on construction sites or in restaurants or people who you wouldn't realise have been forced into a marriage that they didn't consent to, and so it really is one of those things that can be very much concealed from outside observers.

Helena Yeaman:

Yeah, that's really good point. And so what were the highlights of your time when you were at ASA?

Sammy Shannon:

Working with the survivors of modern slavery was absolutely the most rewarding part of the experience for me. The survivors that ASA work with have experienced pretty unbelievable traumas in their lives, and yet, those that I had the privilege of working with were so incredibly warm and kind-hearted and resilient people, and they were determined to heal from their past traumas and go on to live pretty safe and happy and normal lives. And when you think about it on a very human level, these people are also incredibly brave. When you look at the modern slavery cases that have been before the courts in Australia in recent years, in most cases, the victims and survivors have played a key role in the AFP investigation into the perpetrators of modern slavery and the prosecution of some of these perpetrators.

And on one hand, it might seem natural that these survivors would want to see justice served, but to go through the process of reliving the abuse that you've experienced multiple times over in witness statements and in court testimony can be incredibly re-traumatising and it can also put survivors at risk of harm if the perpetrators or people within their network seek revenge. So it really is remarkable what some survivors have been through, and it was very gratifying to assist with ASA's work in trying to bring about some positive outcomes for these clients.

Helena Yeaman:

Wow. Yeah, that's absolutely right. Gosh. Yes, it's truly humbling, they're putting themselves potentially in risk and their families and they're so scared of the people who have traffic them, so amazing that they would have the resilience and bravery to do that. Can you perhaps provide us with a case study or an example so that our listeners can understand a bit more about how this looks?

Sammy Shannon:

Yeah, of course. I think you can take the example of someone who's grown up in another part of the world and lived and worked all their lives in that part of the world, and that person is then offered the opportunity to travel to Australia, to work in a certain industry, so it could be in construction or in hospitality or in the sex industry. And they're told that they will receive a great deal more money if they do, and their accommodation will be taken care of, and they'll have a community of people working with them and so on. And you can imagine this is a really compelling offer if you are struggling financially and you have family members at home that you need to take care of, and it's not like these offers come from complete strangers, they often come from people who the victim or survivor thinks are their friend.

And so you can see why they would feel compelled to accept. And then someone arranges for their flights and gets them a visa, so they can lawfully come to Australia. But once they arrive, they're taken to the place where they are told they'll be working and their passport is taken off them, and they're told that their travel costs were very expensive and they need to work until they can pay them off, and then once they've paid them off, they will have their passport returned to them. So all of a sudden what seemed like a very exciting and lucrative job prospect becomes a situation where someone finds themself in a foreign country where they don't know anybody, they have no identity documents, they often don't speak the language, they're being forced to work 18 hour days in completely horrendous conditions to supposedly pay off this debt when they really have no oversight over how much money they actually owe or how long it will take for them to pay it off.

Helena Yeaman:

I mean, it's terrifying, but that's just so common, isn't it? And in terms of, perhaps, we could let the audience know it's so important to have somebody to testify against perpetrators, otherwise it's really hard to prove that person was in fact, a victim of slavery. Is that what's... I don't know what the law is like in Australia compared to the UK?

Sammy Shannon:

No, that's absolutely the case here as well, and as I may have mentioned before, but if you look at the modern slavery cases that have gone through the courts in the past few years in Australia, yeah, the victims and survivors have played a key role in securing those convictions against the perpetrators of modern slavery. So it really is incredibly important to have organisations like ASA, which provide a specialist legal clinic for victims and survivors to ensure that as many people have been in this situation receive support to get justice in their cases.

Helena Yeaman:

Can you give us an example of something you've really taken away from your experience with Anti-Slavery Australia before you came into Ashurst or how that's perhaps shaped you as a trainee in Ashurst?

Sammy Shannon:

Well, I think on a personal level, it's encouraged me to become a more conscientious consumer. One thing that's probably not too surprising is that the G20 countries are the leaders when it comes to consumption of goods made by slaves, and so I personally feel that we have a responsibility to be more conscientious when it comes to the decisions that we make as consumers. And there are so many apps and resources available to us these days to allow us to take an active interest in the products that we buy and the supply chains that are involved in producing these consumer goods.

Helena Yeaman:

Yeah. Could you give us an example of an app, I mean, is there anything that you use?

Sammy Shannon:

Yeah, of course, so I suppose just for background, some quite at risk products in terms of modern slavery are things like laptops, clothing, chocolate, and cocoa resources that I use are the Good On You app, which rates popular clothing brands based on factors such as, transparency of supply chains and labour practises. And there's also a website called slavefreechocolate.org, it primarily deals with US chocolate brands, but it also covers Australian as well, but it provides a list of chocolate companies which are child labour and slavery free, so that can be quite helpful as well.

Helena Yeaman:

Thanks, Sammy. That's really helpful. Connor. I'm going to ask you the same question, just coming back to you. What did you take away from your experience with Anti-Slavery Australia and sort of, how did that shape you when you came into the firm and began your career in law? Has that shaped you in any way?

Connor Tarpey:

Yeah, definitely. I think just even getting involved in pro bono stuff in general, it really sort of makes you see the capacity that the firms like Ashurst have for positive change and what you can actually do as a lawyer and how you can help. And I think particularly when it comes to the modern slavery space, as we've touched on, not a lot of people are aware of how a large problem it is or how prevalent it is, and I think just having even that foundation of knowledge to work off and to leverage, and I've had other opportunities to get involved in model slavery spaces since I've started. And I think just, even on a more general level, as Sammy touched on, it's made me much more of a conscientious consumer and made me be able to live day-to-day in a more mindful way.

Helena Yeaman:

It's fairly easy to look up the supply chain of your clothing, and certainly some of the larger organisations, well, they've been challenged by the likes of Anti-Slavery Australia, Anti-Slavery International, and they now do see where their cotton is sourced, how it's been manufactured, so, Adela you're based in London and you've volunteered at Anti-Slavery International, it's slightly different from ASA, perhaps you could talk about your experience at ASI.

Adela Mackie:

Sure. So whilst I was at ASI, I supported three teams, these were the business and human rights team, international advocacy and climate change and modern slavery. And on the business and human rights space, one of my main tasks was to analyse company responses to the European Commissions Consultation on their proposed mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence law, and I also helped to draught a position paper calling for the UK equivalent to that due diligence law in the form of a business human rights and environment act. In terms of international advocacy, I looked at various universal periodic reviews and US state department country reports, which analysed modern slavery issues in different countries. This really helped me to learn a lot about the geographical variations in modern slavery occurrence and the human rights practises that are used to address that. And then finally, in the climate change and modern slavery space, I assisted with organising the launch event of the report written by ASI in conjunction with the International Institute for Environment and Development on climate induced migration and modern slavery.

Helena Yeaman:

Adela, that was really interesting, that particular piece, and I know I had you on my panel for that podcast that was early on in our series of ESG matters, it was called, "What's the link between ESG & Modern Slavery?" It was really interesting to hear about the report that you ASI and IIED worked on, if you could summarise it in a pithy way, what is the link between modern slavery and climate induced migration?

Adela Mackie:

Sure. So the report itself highlighted three main strands, so following things like tsunamis or cyclones or other devastating sudden events, local people are vulnerable to traffickers and can be driven into forced labour. Another way this happens is due to slow onset climate change events, such as unusual rainfall and increasing temperatures. This often has consequences such as drought, crop failures, and food shortages, and people who are affected by this can be driven to migrate in precarious conditions in search of an alternative livelihood, this can in turn, increase their vulnerability to force labour and sexual exploitation. And then taking those slow onset climate change events combined with conflict may lead people in conflict affected communities to be forcefully displaced, or to submit themselves to trafficking, which could potentially result in forced labour and bonded labour.

Helena Yeaman:

That's really helpful, thank you. It's fascinating and terrifying in equal measures, isn't it? So, Adela, was there anything that you found particularly encouraging in terms of working at ASI, maybe in terms of legislation, the changes being made?

Adela Mackie:

I think what stood out to me in particular was the European Commission's proposal on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. I think this is something that ASI had been advocating for, for a number of years, so it's been great to watch the development play out in relation to that, it's really helping to bring together the approaches and various EU countries that have already started legislating in that area.

Helena Yeaman:

And when you joined Ashurst as a trainee, what did you bring to the party? Apart from being fabulous, obviously. What shaped you as a lawyer, as a trainee from your experience at ASI?

Adela Mackie:

I think actually, one of my tasks at ASI, which I briefly touched on was analysing those company responses to the consultation that the European Commission ran, and it was really great to see the company perspectives on that, which I think was helpful coming into a commercial law firm. And I think that has really helped me whilst I've been here as I've been getting involved in some ESG work that I didn't anticipate getting involved with, but that's been... My antislavery experience has been really useful with that. So for example, preparing slides for client training on ESG matters, and it's been really great to see kind of both perspectives from sort of the NGO space whilst I was at Antislavery International, and then from the company space, now that I have been Ashurst.

Helena Yeaman:

That's a really good point, isn't it? Because obviously, we work with these clients, and it's good to be able to understand the challenges that they're facing, isn't it? Trying to meet legislation in really challenging times and still run their businesses and compete with their competitors and still try and do their best with ESG particularly, and that link between modern slavery and their environmental targets is really complex, isn't it?

Adela Mackie:

Definitely, and it's been really encouraging to see that companies are really enthusiastic about kind of addressing these issues, and it's been really rewarding actually to see that from both perspectives.

Helena Yeaman:

Yeah. That's a really good point, thanks, Adela. And is there anything else that you were educated about perhaps, through your time at ASI and in terms of modern slavery issues?

Adela Mackie:

I think it's just helped me to view current events through a different lens, really. So for example, the situation in Ukraine now, it's enabled me to look at it from a sort of anti-slavery perspective, for example, the Anti-slavery Commissioners report highlighted matters such as conflict in general heightening vulnerability to trafficking, there are concerns about the Homes for Ukraine scheme in terms of risks of human trafficking and exploitation in the matching process, there are limited checks on the hosts and the lack of long term oversight. And Ukrainians who were already in the UK under the seasonal workers visas were seen as already being in a precarious position in terms of risks of human trafficking and exploitation, which was then exacerbated by the war and sort of a wider climate of insecurity and fear and the broader political climate around immigration and asylum, which has created difficult conditions in which to respond. So I think that the Anti-slavery International experience that I had has really helped me to consider the modern slavery angles of these current events that we watch unfold.

Helena Yeaman:

Perhaps going back to Connor, outside of policy and legal assistance, what are some of the practical ways you've seen organisations tackle the problem of modern slavery?

Connor Tarpey:

Yeah, so it was one of my key areas of interest, I think, was getting to research and delve into sort of these international organisations that are trying to practically reduce modern slavery and prevent modern slavery at its core, and in particular, one that jumps out to me is an American organisation called Truckers Against trafficking. Obviously, truckers were the last group I expected to be making such a large impact in the modern slavery space, but once you start delving down into the literature, truckers, bus drivers, and those involved in the transport industry more generally are the kinds of people that come into contact with human trafficking and modern slavery far more than the average member of society.
So Truckers Against Trafficking is aimed at educating and providing resources to these people, doing things like placing materials in truck stops and bus depots, and providing truckers with bumper stickers and a helpline or a hotline and giving support to these people being trafficked via these facilities. So if for instance, someone's being human trafficked or brought in from another country, they might go into a truck stop bathroom or a rest stop and see these materials and be able to reach out when maybe they wouldn't otherwise think that they could.

Helena Yeaman:

So from a UK perspective, I'm sort of wondering, how does that work in Australia? Because obviously in the UK and in America it's fairly easy for truckers to cross borders in Europe and US, so how does that work in Australia? Because obviously, you're a big island and it's quite hard to get into the country, so can you explain in practical terms, what that looks like similarly in Australia?

Connor Tarpey:

It can happen sort of the regular way in that these people legally into the country, or they might fly into the country as a normal working tourist or a normal tourist would, but then once they arrive there, their sponsor or the person that they thought would be their employer will confiscate their passport or their papers, and then they'll be subjected to debt bondage, just not allowed to leave, and obviously these are people in a foreign country with no documentation and they're effectively sort of reduced to illegal immigrants in their own mind, and it creates a real culture of fear because yeah, as you said, once you're in Australia, it's very hard to leave without a plane or a boat, but at the same time, human trafficking can still occur here and is still a big problem here despite what many people might think.

Helena Yeaman:

Anything else that you learned from the Tuckers Against Trafficking?

Connor Tarpey:

I think it's about being resourceful and inventive, obviously, these large scale government reforms and initiatives are really great, but seeing people on the ground do their bit to help people and shine a light on these very dark places and brave victims was really heartening and empowering, I think, and just being able to realise that sometimes even the smallest things can make such a big difference to these people's lives.

Helena Yeaman:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, thank you. Sammy, have you got any other examples? I know you shared one earlier, perhaps outside of policy and legal assistance, any practical ways that you've seen organisations tackle modern slavery?

Sammy Shannon:

Yeah. I think for me, the example that comes to mind is an organisation called the Freedom Hub, which runs here in Sydney, and The Freedom Hub is a social enterprise that it combines a cafe and a venue space and what they call the, "Survivor School," and it's all designed to mentor and encourage and empower victims and survivors of human trafficking. And so there's a cafe and an event space that they use to fund the Survivor School, but it also provides an opportunity for members of The Survivor School to work and to get some experience working in a cafe or an events sort of environment. And then The Survivors School is designed to work with victims of slavery and provide mentoring and support and help those people rebuild confidence, and yeah, really empower them to go back out into the world.

Helena Yeaman:

That's really interesting because I actually visited the Freedom Hub when I was in Sydney, so big shout out to Sally Irwin who set that up. And I know that you can just pop over there for a coffee during the day as well as hire their space for venues, so yeah, if you're in Sydney, check it out.

Sammy Shannon:

Yeah, absolutely.

Helena Yeaman:

So just to finish, just to wrap up, have we got reason to be optimistic as we look ahead?

Sammy Shannon:

I think it's very encouraging to see the commitment to pro bono increasing both within the firm and with the clients that we work with. And more personally, I think it's something that I've seen speaking to other graduates in my cohort, I can see that pro bono and causes such as Anti-Slavery and the work that Anti-Slavery Australia is doing is something that is really important to a lot of juniors within the firm and something that juniors really want to get behind. And so I think within attitudes like that within the firm and within our group of clients as well, I think that's something to be optimistic about.

Helena Yeaman:

Thanks. Connor, how about you?

Connor Tarpey:

Yeah, on one hand, I think the social consciousness has become a lot more involved in sustainability and ESG and things like that more generally, and I think that's really heartening to see, and I definitely see it becoming more in the public consciousness and more something that's talked about and supported, and I think also the work that ASA does and other organisations within Australia, like the Minderoo Foundation has been heavily involved and supported by quite prominent people within Australia, and I think it's definitely gotten a lot more attention, I'm hoping that moving forwards, that involvement and presence in the space only increases.

Helena Yeaman:

Thanks, Connor. Adela, anything to add?

Adela Mackie:

Yeah, just to echo what Connor and Sammy have said, I think this is something that is really gaining momentum and people are really enthusiastic and passionate about, and I think that can only be a good thing moving forward that it's at the forefront of our minds, and even actually the existence of the Caroline Ashurst Award in itself has been something that's really highlighted the importance of it, and I think I can speak for all of us to say that we're really grateful for having this experience and that's really helped to inform our own perspectives on this.

Helena Yeaman:

Thank you so much. So I'd just like to thank you all. Sammy, thank you so much for coming in today and for discussing your experience with the Caroline Ashurst Award.

Sammy Shannon:

Thank you, Helena, and thank you, Adela and Connor, it's been a pleasure to speak with you all.

Helena Yeaman:

Connor, likewise, it was really interesting to hear about your experience with Anti-Slavery Australia, thank you so much for coming in.

Connor Tarpey:

It's my pleasure, thank you.

Helena Yeaman:

Adela, thank you so much for coming in, it was great to have that different perspective and hear about Anti-Slavery International as well.

Adela Mackie:

Thank you, I always really enjoyed talking about this issue.

Helena Yeaman:

Thank you for listening to ESG matters at Ashurst. To hear more Ashurst podcast, including our dedicated series on all things ESG, head over to ashurst.com/podcast. To ensure you don't miss future episodes, please feel free to subscribe on your favourite podcast platform, and while you're there, leave us a rating or review. Thanks very much for listening and goodbye for now.

Host:

If you enjoy ESG matters at Ashurst, why not check out our other two podcast series as well? Ashurst Business Agenda tackles the big strategic issues that business leaders face and Ashurst Legal Outlook explains the emerging legal trends and requirements of our fast changing world. You can listen and subscribe to Business Agenda and Legal Outlook wherever you get your podcasts.