Push for slavery victims to have national redress scheme
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Under the proposal, survivors of slavery in Australia would be able to seek compensation of up to $100,000 for a range of serious offences, such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage and sex trafficking.
At present, all eight states and territories allow survivors to apply for compensation in limited circumstances, but each jurisdiction differs when it comes to categories of harm, time limits and financial awards.
Victoria, for example, offers up to $70,000 in compensation while Tasmania has a maximum rate of $10,000 – but as Anti-Slavery Australia professor Jennifer Burn told Fairfax Media: “This is further complicated in cases where a victim is exploited in more than one state or territory of Australia. In such cases they will be required to lodge multiple applications for redress.”
The idea of a national compensation scheme was one of the recommendations of a recent bipartisan parliamentary inquiry, whose committee members included Victorian-based government MP Chris Crewther, WA Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds, Tasmanian Labor Senator Lisa Singh and NSW Liberal backbencher Trent Zimmerman.
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