The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (“CCL”) gave evidence today at NSW Parliament before the Modern Slavery Committee regarding its review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (“the NSW Modern Slavery Act”).

The review is concerned with whether the policy objectives of the NSW Modern Slavery Act remain valid.

The CCL strongly supports the policy objectives of the NSW Modern Slavery Act.

2023 NSWCCL AGM

Item 7.1 The Right to Protest

Under Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the right to peaceful assembly shall be recognised. No restrictions may be imposed unless the protest is an imposition to national security, public safety, public order, the protection of public health, morals or the rights and freedoms of others. Australia has ratified this international agreement and therefore laws should not be passed that are inconsistent with this right. 

2023 NSWCCL AGM

Item 7.2 Drug Reform Policy

NSWCCL welcomes the NSW government proposal for a pre-court diversion scheme affecting people caught in possession of small amounts of illicit substances. Under the changes, NSW Police will be given the ability to issue up to two on the spot Criminal Infringement Notices, which are $400 fines, to adults for personal drug use and small quantity drug possession offences. This is an encouraging first step towards broader drug reform however NSW Police will still retain their discretion in all cases to charge a person and proceed to court. It is still an offence to possess and use illicit drugs. Entry of a conviction or even a bond without conviction goes on a police record with possible drastic long lasting consequences for future employment and visas to enter other countries.

A coalition of legal, First Nations and Human Rights organisations have come together to call on the NSW government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.

The group, which includes the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) NSW/ACT, AbSec, Amnesty International Australia, ANTAR, Australian Services Union NSW & ACT Services Branch, Community Legal Centres NSW, Just Reinvest NSW, Justice Reform Initiative, New South Wales Council of Social Service (NCOSS), NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL), NSW Teachers Federation, Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Youth Action, brings a deep understanding of the negative impacts criminalising children has as well as knowledge and expertise on how to do better as a community.

In a statement, the group said better outcomes and a safer community wouldn't be achieved by doing things that don't work.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) is aware of an extraordinary general meeting occurring tonight, where members of both the Labor and Liberal party will put forward a motion to remove the Greens Waverley Deputy Mayor Ludovico Fabiano and Greens Councillor, Dominic Wy Kanak from various committees as a result of their public positions on what is occurring in Israel and Palestine.

These positions include the acknowledgement that there is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Palestine (and in particular Gaza) and that States must comply with their obligations pursuant to International Law.

A coalition has come together in NSW to call on the NSW Government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.

The group includes First Nations organisations, legal and human rights organisations, peak bodies in the non-government sector and unions. They bring a deep understanding of the impact of criminalising children along with the expertise and experience to help us to do better.

The group represents the services, communities and front-line workers who can build a better way for our children and our communities.

If we want better outcomes for young people and a safer community, we need to stop doing things that don’t work. Dragging children as young as ten through police stations and courts, strip-searching them and locking them up causes harm and fails to deliver on community safety. 

A Statement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, community members and organisations who supported Yes, ‘Statement for Our People and Country’, has broken this week of silence. 

The humanitarian crisis in Palestine is escalating – with civilians in Gaza still being
denied food, medical attention and supplies, water and fuel by the State of Israel.
There is no safe place to flee.

The organisers, Palestine Action Group and Tzedek member, Jews Against
Occupation, a Jewish collective – are protesting in one voice to stop the war and to
stand in solidarity with those impacted by the humanitarian crisis. We stand to give
the voiceless a voice. We are supported by unions, faith leaders, lawyers, civil rights
organisations and everyday Australians who recognise that, in the darkest days of
war, we have a collective responsibility to protect humanity.

Read their release here.

GRACE JOHNSON: The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) has condemned the police’s “scare tactics” in the days leading up to the pro-Palestine rally. 

Palestine Action Group had organised a peaceful rally which saw six thousand protestors assemble in Hyde Park this past Sunday. Roughly 1,000 officers were deployed around the city, including members of the riot, mounted and canine units. 

President of NSWCCL Josh Pallas said, “It was outrageous that the primary threat to crowd safety was from the NSW police, who threatened to use extraordinary powers under s 87D of LEPRA, which are available when there is a threat of wide-spread public disorder.  So-called police intelligence turned out to be completely unfounded. NSW Police and the Police Minister must explain how they got it so wrong.” 

“The police claims that there was such a threat can only be seen as a scare and intimidation tactic in the lead up to the protest. The emergency powers should not be available to prevent a political protest,” he continued. 

“The intense and large police mobilisation on the ground was another scare tactic aimed at intimidating overpoliced people who were demonised over the past week as posing a risk of violence by police and politicians.” 

Catie McLeod & Tamsin Rose: Human rights and legal experts have condemned the New South Wales government’s “escalating”, “unnuanced” and “disproportionate” rhetoric and response to pro-Palestinian protesters following a rally at the Opera House.

NSW authorities have vowed to stop marches from proceeding while protesters have promised to “march next week and every week” after a “static demonstration” in Hyde Park this Sunday.

Event co-organiser Amal Naser said they would be “out, loud and proud and we’re not going to bow down to the pressures that we’ve been experiencing from police and the premier”.

Sunday’s gathering was initially billed as a march through the city before police rejected the group’s application on the grounds it was submitted with less than a week’s notice.

Maeve McGregor: Saying the quiet part aloud is increasingly what escalation looks like in this country.

Take for instance Tom Koutsantonis, the South Australian energy minister whose recent words to the fossil-fuel industry — “[We’re] at your disposal” — coupled with the draconian anti-protest laws which ensued will forever condemn him and the government to which he belongs in the minds of so many Australians. 

Or NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley, who on Tuesday afternoon appeared to expressly deny the rights of anyone in the state to assemble and protest. “I don’t want to see protests on our streets at all, from anybody,” she told 2GB, seemingly forgetting her state’s ostensive democratic trappings. Or federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who on Wednesday openly expressed his incredulity at the prime minister for not having declared a blanket nationwide ban on all pro-Palestinian protests, as if that’s even a legal possibility. 

Olivia Ireland and Michael Koziol: Premier Chris Minns’ declaration that pro-Palestinian activists will not be allowed to “commandeer our streets” has triggered a fresh brawl about the right to protest in NSW, as the government tries to counter days of criticism over its handling of Monday’s rally in Sydney.

The Law Society Journal has reviewed our documentary series “60 Years Strong.” They say: It’s 1963, and Australia and the world are in the early years of what would become known as one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades. 

The Civil Rights movement in the US reached a pivotal moment as Martin Luther King Jr delivered his iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, inspiring many worldwide to fight for their rights.  

Closer to home, conflict in Southeast Asia intensifies and will send more than 60,000 Australians in the coming years to fight alongside their allies in the jungles of Vietnam, sparking a period of mass anti-war protests and demonstrations worldwide. 

Statement from Michael Cope, President of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties, Josh Pallas, President of New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, and Michael Stanton as President of Liberty Victoria.

Our organisations support the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart – a generous call from First Nations peoples for voice, treaty and truth. We also continue to urge the Commonwealth to fully implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which requires respect for self-determination. Whilst we acknowledge ongoing debate about whether the Voice is the optimal approach to enshrining First Nations representation in the Constitution, the Voice is the only opportunity currently open. If not taken, there is no guarantee any similar or alternate opportunities will present in the near future.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties strongly opposes the Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 and we consider the Bill to be a serious threat to civil liberties and the rule of law in Australia. We are deeply concerned that the Bill seeks to extend the operation of two highly problematic regimes: the secrecy provisions and the control orders. Both of which have been widely criticised for undermining fundamental rights and principles of justice.

Having regard to the serious implications the Bill has to the rule of law and to the principle of democracy, we submit that the Bill is unjustified, disproportionate, and should be rejected in its entirety. We are not persuaded by the arguments put forward by the government to justify the continuation or extension of these regimes. These arguments fail to show that the Bill is necessary, proportionate or effective in addressing the threat of terrorism.

19 December 2023 Update: The Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 Report was published on 19 December 2023 and acknowledged the significant extent and impact of modern slavery in NSW. The committee was particularly concerned to learn that an estimated 80 to 98 per cent of victim-survivors remain unidentified out of a possible 16,400 cases each year in New South Wales.

The Modern Slavery Act 2018 is therefore an important piece of legislation enacted to address the issue of modern slavery by requiring NSW Government agencies, local councils and state-owned corporations to report on how they are addressing modern slavery risks in their supply chains, and providing for the establishment of the NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner, the first such position in any Australian jurisdiction. The Act also creates modern slavery offences.

This review examined whether the Act is adequately addressing modern slavery risks and whether the Commissioner is effectively equipped to do so. The committee acknowledged that there is clear evidence highlighting areas where the Act can be strengthened, particularly in relation to the detection and exposure of modern slavery, compliance and enforcement, support for victim-survivors and the role of the Commissioner. This aligns with the evidence from NSWCCL in both our submission and our evidence to the committee. 

Finding 1 
That the committee needs to involve people with lived experience expertise in its review of the Act before making further recommendations, noting that this has not been possible given the requirement to complete the report within 24 months of the commencement of the Act.

Recommendation 1 
That the Modern Slavery Committee continue to review the Modern Slavery Act 2018 in the next six months specifically seeking evidence from people with lived experience expertise and considering the evidence already received.
Recommendation 2 
That the NSW Government seek to amend the Modern Slavery Act 2018 to explicitly provide for the Anti-slavery Commissioner's annual and other reports to be tabled out of session or made publicly available immediately after being furnished to the Presiding Officers, as provided for in the original Modern Slavery Bill 2018.

The report can be found here. Our submission can be found here.

The Global Slavery Index 2023 estimated there are 41,000 victims of modern slavery in Australia. In financial year ended 30 June 2022, authorities received 294 modern slavery reports in Australia, which was an increase of 31% from the prior year. It is also reported that an estimated 16.400 people in NSW are victims of modern slavery.

Even with these numbers being 'low' in comparison to other jurisdictions, it is estimated only 1 in 5 victims are detected in Australia. Roughly 1670 modern slavery cases have been referred to the Australian Federal Police but only 31 offenders convicted.

Today NSW Council for Civil Liberties joined with Trade Unions, Civil and Human Rights Organisations calling on the NSW Premier to publicly affirm the government’s support for the right to protest.

• NTEU NSW Division
• Amnesty International Australia
• Australian Centre for International Justice
• Public Interest Advocacy Centre
• Community Legal Centres Australia
• Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
• Australian Democracy Network
• Human Rights Law Centre
• Maritime Union of Australia Sydney Branch
• Australian Services Union

We again thank Councillor Yvonne Weldon for taking the time to attend our dinner to Welcome us on behalf of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council. It was an honour to have Cl Weldon join us on Gadigal Country and share her time so generously with us on our 60^th birthday party!

We also thank the Hon Dr Meredith Burgmann for hosting our dinner. Meredith is a long time member of the Council and a constant defender of human rights and civil liberties.

Craig Foster, activist, human rights campaigner and Co-Chair of the Australian Republican Movement delivered a call to action in his keynote address to take on the big miners - “We cannot open any more coal and gas projects if we want to save our planet,” Foster said. “We need a just transition and we need it now. Our governments are not listening to us, so we need mass civil disobedience to stop them. Who will take part in this?”

Comments from Josh Pallas, President NSW Council for Civil Liberties.

"Calls in the media from politicians and public figures for police to have prohibited or closed down the Free Palestine Protest in Sydney yesterday are misplaced and fundamentally inconsistent with the right to protest which must be protected, not trashed."

"The exercise of this right should not be dependent on police approval.  Non-violent protest is fundamental to democracy and should be allowed by right."

"Of course, politicians and public figures may publicly disagree with the content of a protest, however, is also an important democratic freedom.  But it is wrong for them to call for a prohibition of the protest."

"Everyone should have the right to gather and convey political messages in non-violent protest. This right is essential to our democratic system of government. The right to protest has already been eroded enough in this State and politicians should not be given licence to erode it further on the basis of there being "good" and "bad" protest causes.  Protest itself ought to be celebrated as enriching our democracy."

"Expression of hate speech, in whatever form it takes, is neither appropriate nor consistent with democratic values.  Hate speech is not a legitimate exercise of free speech rights. Protestors should not engage in hate speech.”

ends