Slavery Links (2015) ‘Adding slavery to the list of treaties to be considered by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’, Briefing Paper No 1 (Slavery Links Australia Inc., Camberwell Vic).
Freedom from slavery is a fundamental freedom. Since 1750, treaties regarding slavery have founded the basis for modern human rights. Australia led the world in ratifying the Slavery Convention 1926 and its successor, the Supplementary Convention 1956. Yet slavery is not on the list of matters considered by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. Slavery was overlooked. That needs to change. Slavery goes beyond abuse and exploitation. It happens when one person, in effect, owns another. The theft of freedom makes slavery a crime against humanity. Cases of slavery have been found in present day Australia. Division 270 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 provides substantial penalties which indicate the seriousness of slavery in an absolute sense and its seriousness relative to other matters considered by the Parliamentary Joint Committee.