Love for Sale & Labour for Hire

A new study by UQ’s Human Trafficking Working Group has found that Australia’s response to human trafficking has been preoccupied with sex trafficking and has failed to address trafficking in children and labour.

The results of the study will be presented later this month by members of the working group at a public lecture entitled ‘Love for Sale & Labour for Hire’.

Offered as part of UQ’s Diversity Week, the public lecture will take place on Monday 24 May from 2pm to 4pm, Terrace Room, Sir Llew Edwards building at St Lucia campus.

TC Beirne School of Law Associate Professor Andreas Schloenhardt, who leads UQ’s Human Trafficking Working Group, said the fight against human trafficking had been a war against prostitution for much of the 20th century and continued today.

“Media coverage of the issue in Australia has been preoccupied with stories about sex slaves and the lurid nature of the prostitution industry, and other issues, such as trafficking in children and labour, have been largely ignored.”

Two of the working group members making presentations at the public lecture are Bachelor of Laws students Siobhan Clair and Chris Deitch.

Ms Clair’s work highlights flaws in the Australian system and suggests strategies to confront the challenge of strengthening safeguards to protect the best interests of adoptive children.

“Despite Australia’s compliance with international law, and the existence of stringent domestic regulations, an adoption scandal that came to light in 2008 demonstrated that the system may be abused for purposes of trafficking in children,” she said.

Mr Deitch ‘s work examines schemes to regulate the temporary migration of foreign low-skilled and unskilled workers into Australia.

“The implications of the Australian Government’s Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme, introduced in 2009, are complex and the vulnerability of unskilled foreign workers to exploitation is frequently overlooked,” he said.

Attendance at the public lecture is free, RSVP to events@bel.uq.edu.au by May 20. For further information visit: www.law.uq.edu.au/humantrafficking

Media:
Associate Professor Andreas Schloenhardt, 07 3365 6191, a.schloenhardt@law.uq.edu.au
Lynda Flower, School of Law Marketing, 07 3365 2523, l.flower@law.uq.edu.au