Office and Staff Announcement
The inaugural Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Chris Evans, is in the process of establishing his office following the commencement of his five-year appointment on the 2nd of December 2024.
The Commissioner’s Office has been established in temporary premises in the Melbourne CBD and will move into a permanent office in the city by April 2025. The Commissioner will be relocating from Perth in January 2025.
The Commissioner is pleased to announce that two senior staff will join the office in the new year. These are temporary appointments to allow the Commissioner to engage immediately with the statutory requirements of his role. The selection and recruitment of permanent staff will take place once the staffing requirements of the office are formally settled.
The work of the Commissioner in developing Australia’s domestic response to combating modern slavery will be led by Heather Moore and business relations and strategy will be led by Laura McManus. Both acting Directors bring a wealth of experience and expertise that will greatly enhance the capacity of the Commissioner’s Office to deliver on our statutory charter.
Heather Moore is a counter-trafficking specialist, with over 20 years’ international experience across the fields of program management, capacity building, policy and research. Her work focuses on strengthening organisational responses to contemporary forms of slavery, with emphasis on improving criminal justice responses; building high-functioning multi-stakeholder and survivor-led initiatives; and developing effective remediation strategies. Heather is completing a PhD in Law at RMIT University where she is conducting experimental research testing the effectiveness of decision assistance to enhance remediation of forced labour in supply chains. Prior to joining the Office, Heather worked for The Salvation Army in responsible sourcing and senior policy roles in which she played a key role in policy reforms improving protections for migrant workers and people affected by human trafficking and slavery.
Laura McManus is a leading business and human rights practitioner in Australia, specialising in the development and implementation of corporate human rights due diligence in global supply chains. Beginning her career in the not-for-profit sector, Laura has worked globally on issues of child labour, peacebuilding, and modern slavery, including co-authoring Tackling Modern Slavery in Supply Chains and the Global Slavery Index, publications by the Walk Free Foundation. Laura is the outgoing Head of Human Rights at Woolworths Group, where she has led the Group’s response to the Australian Modern Slavery Act and the development of Woolworths Group’s modern slavery statements. In 2023, Laura was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to examine best practices in responsible recruitment to reduce forced labour risks among migrant workers in Australia.
The contact details of the Commissioner’s Office are contact@antislaverycommissioner.gov.au with a phone number to follow in the new year. More information on the Office of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner can be found at https://www.antislaverycommissioner.gov.au/.