Facing and tackling modern slavery is a shared international responsibility

Today, tens of millions of vulnerable children around the world are trapped and exploited in the most insidious ways. Shockingly, many Australians are unwittingly contributing to this exploitation.

Children are all too often victims of modern slavery, and, in the case of the appalling practice of orphanage tourism, they are often hidden in plain sight.

I first learned about orphanage tourism during a field visit to Cambodia with Save the Children in early 2016. It shocked and horrified me. How could I have not known? How could Australians be contributing to the trafficking of children?

When I came home I was determined to alert my colleagues and community to this heinous practice.

But big changes never come easily. It took time, advocacy and plain hard work. I wrote to schools, I pushed for government-led awareness raising campaigns, and I teamed up with NGOs in Australia and around the world.

I tapped into an international community of remarkable people who care and who are committed to ending the trafficking and exploitation of children in ‘so called’ orphanages.

As a Senator in the Australian Parliament, I proudly sponsored and participated in the Parliamentary Inquiry into Establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia.

When it passed the Modern Slavery Act in 2018, the Australian Parliament became the first in the world to formally recognise orphanage tourism as trafficking and as a form of modern slavery.

Facing and tackling this humanitarian injustice is a shared international responsibility. Australia’s legislation can only be truly effective if the world’s nations come together to insist on justice and freedom from slavery for millions of vulnerable children.

All of us can and must do something to expose it and to end it. You can help just by watching and sharing this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr1Xv4DyDnY&feature=youtu.be

I salute the advocacy and achievements of CPA UK.