25 September 2023
The NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner, Dr James Cockayne, has announced the second intake of his Advisory Panel. Joining the initial cohort of twenty leading experts announced in July, and like them serving until 30 June 2024, this group of experts is set to support the Commissioner's initiatives to combat modern slavery in NSW.
The second intake of panel members comprises experts spanning sustainable procurement, environmental, social, and corporate governance, research, community support services, and survivor advocacy.
The Advisory Panel will provide advice to the Commissioner, helping him ensure the sustainable and inclusive implementation of his Strategic Plan 2023-2026: Working Together for Real Freedom.
"I am looking forward to working with this diverse group of experts and tapping into their wealth of knowledge to advance NSW's leadership in the fight against modern slavery", said Dr Cockayne.
Aligning with the Commissioner's commitments to centre survivors at the heart of our policy, program design and delivery efforts, one in five members of the full Advisory Panel brings expertise from lived experience of modern slavery or related issues.
All members of the Advisory Panel are entitled to be paid for their time and expertise and have access to counselling and other supports. They serve in a personal capacity and commit to the confidentiality of the Panel's deliberations and engagement with the Commissioner and his team.
The new members of the NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner's Advisory Panel are (in alphabetical order):
- Alexander Coward has more than ten years' experience in Australia's modern slavery responses, including working for the Australian Government and Australian Parliament, and more recently as an advisor to business.
- Anna Boucher is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Discipline of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, where her research expertise includes immigration and labour market exploitation. Anna also practices as a solicitor for Violet Co & Legal Consultancy, with a focus on race discrimination and victims of crime
- Eleni Argy is a specialist in community youth development and has been dedicated to supporting children, young people and women who have experienced or are at risk of modern slavery since 2015. Drawing on her lived experience as a survivor of family violence, she advocates for survivors, raises awareness about the complex issues survivors face, provides direct support to survivors, and builds community programs and partnerships.
- Fiona David is a world-leading expert in forced labour and slavery. Fiona played integral roles in designing and standing up the Global Slavery Index and the United Nations' Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, Fiona is CEO and Founder of Fair Futures, advising organisations on how to integrate human rights into the sustainability agenda. She holds various Board roles, including with the Forrest Research Foundation, Deputy Chair of ACCESS, national research infrastructure that enables Australia's weather and climate modelling, and the Coolaroo Foundation.
- Frances Simmons is a lecturer within the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney, where she teaches and researches in the areas of administrative law and the law of slavery and human trafficking. Her areas of interest include to victim identification procedures and access to remedies.
- Glenn Johnston is a proud Burramatta man of the Dharug Nation with five generations of continuous connections to Dharug land. Glenn has many years of experience in identifying and eliminating modern slavery in global and local supply chains through his procurement leadership experiences. He was a member of the NSW Government Modern Slavery Steering Committee and worked closely with the interim Anti-slavery Commissioner to establish the framework to support the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW).
- Jacob Sarkodee was born in Australia with Ghanaian heritage and is the Head of Counter Slavery and Trafficking Partnerships at the Chatleigh Foundation. Jacob has seventeen years of leadership and strategic involvement with global organisations, including two of the world's largest development and anti-slavery agencies.
- Lina Garcia is the Lead for the Anti-Trafficking response at the Australian Red Cross and manages the Australian Government funded Support for Trafficked People Program. Lina has significant experience adjusting and improving services and supports available for survivors, offering evidence-based recommendations and solutions, and working together with government, business, and multiple stakeholders.
- Scarlett Franks is a 'survivor-researcher' at the University of Sydney where she examines the impacts of interpersonal and systemic abuse and exploitation. Scarlett is also an appointee of the Survivor College of the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse and the board of directors of the Grace Tame Foundation.
