Australia welcomes your report on contemporary forms of slavery affecting persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minority communities.

We agree that contemporary forms of slavery among minorities, including forced labour and marriage, is alarming and demonstrates that ongoing political will, comprehensive national approaches, and international cooperation remain critical to end modern slavery.

Promoting transparency and due diligence in global supply chains is critical to identify, prevent, and remedy modern slavery. This is why Australia established the Modern Slavery Act in 2018, which requires relevant businesses, and government entities, to report actions they are taking to address identified modern slavery risks in their global operations and supply chains. We recognise that others have also begun taking these steps and look forward to building constructive partnerships.

Australia is committed to further strengthening the Modern Slavery Act - a statutory review is currently underway. We will also appoint an independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, as well as bolster resources for the Ambassador for People Smuggling and Human Trafficking.

We ask how to best facilitate the full participation of persons from ethnic, religious and linguistic minority communities in developing anti-slavery policies, programs and survivor support, as recommended in the report.