The Catholic Weekly 8 August 2021

catholicweekly.com.au 4 NEWS 8, August, 2021 WHEN THEN-FATHER An- thony Fisher OP concluded the celebration of Mass on a sunny Sunday morning in the picturesque harbour-side parish of Watsons Bay in mid 2007, he had a pivotal con- versation with a young South American woman which was to sow the seeds for a project which has now turned inter- national attention to the Arch- diocese of Sydney. The woman had been lured to Australia by a local fami- ly to work as a nanny, under the false impression that she would be making a whole new life for herself in Sydney. “Instead, her passport was taken away from her by her employers, she was not al- lowed any recreational activ- Injust fouryears, Sydney’sAnti-Slavery Taskforcehasmadegiantprogress ¾ Michael Kenny Ending a modern scourge Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Archdiocese of Sydney, Michael Digges, left, joins Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP and Alison Rahill, Jenny Stanger and John McCarthy QC from the Anti-Slavery Taskforce. PHOTO:ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY ity outside the house and she was not paid any pocket mon- ey or wages”, now Archbishop Fisher shared at a parliamen- tary committee hearing a dec- ade later into human traffick- ing in NSW. “Her employer finally al- lowed her to go to church because she was a religious woman and that gave her a chance to come and speak with me. She said she had tried at one stage to escape to a neighbour. She told the neighbour what was happen- ing to her and the neighbour had effectively man-handled her back to the house of her employers as if she was an es- capee from prison or old-style slavery”. “That experience brought home to me that this is very real, it’s here in our own city and I did my best to inter- vene at that time and I got her out of that situation, with help from the police and from Catholic Care, our social wel- fare agency of the Church”. The whole experience left the future Archbishop with a strong call to action as he came to appreciate the piv- otal role the Catholic Church could play in supporting the victims of modern slavery and helping to eradicate a practice which was profoundly against Catholic social teaching. Only a matter of months after that parliamentary com- mittee appearance, Arch- bishop Fisher established an Anti-Slavery Taskforce in the Archdiocese of Sydney, chaired by Australia’s former Ambassador to the Vatican, Mr John McCarthy QC. The new taskforce had a strong mandate to put Catho- lic social teaching into prac- tice, committing itself to a number of key initiatives, in- cluding slavery proofing all procurement by the Archdio- cese of Sydney and its agen- cies and to investigating the provision of needs-based ser- vices for survivors of modern slavery in Australia. From its outset, the task- force has also been firm- ly focused on influencing key stakeholders across the Catholic Church, helping to raise awareness and in turn purchasing decisions on the part of parishioners, schools, healthcare operators and dio- ceses across the country. Now, less than four years after it was established, the Anti-Slavery Taskforce of the Archdiocese of Sydney has attracted glob- al praise for its work and has been credited with having set an international benchmark for Catholic and other organi- sations to follow in this impor- tant field. The Chancellor of the Pon- tifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Argen- tine-born Cardinal Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo has gone as catholicsuper.com.au We’re here to help you Find the career you deserve catholicjobsonline.com.au CATHOLIC JOBS ONLINE For all the latest Catholic Jobs call Katie on (02) 9390 5402 far as describing the Archdio- cese of Sydney’s Anti-Slavery Taskforce as a model for the Catholic Church to follow on addressing modern slavery through procurement and supply chains. One of the stand-out achievements of the Task- force has been the way it has helped establish a new na- tional anti-slavery body, the Australian Catholic Anti-Slav- ery Network (ACAN), bring- ing together over 40 Catholic entities including dioceses, health, education and welfare bodies, accounting for total annual revenue of $22.3 bil- lion and $6.38 billion in annu- al procurement. ACAN has allowed the Catholic sector, the second largest employer in the coun- try after governments, to pool their resources and exper- tise together in their efforts to ensure supply chains and procurement processes are slavery-free. The formation of ACAN has helped Catholic organisations meet their obligations under the federal Modern Slavery Act. Under this legislation, entities with consolidated Celebrating loved ones for over 90 years Trevor Lee & Son is a family business that has helped families celebrate and remember their loved ones for over 90 years. ♦ Intimate and personal funeral services ♦ Professional, compassionate staff, available 24 hours a day ♦ On site or in the comfort of your own home ♦ Servicing all areas of Metropolitan Sydney and Country NSW ♦ Pre-Paid Funerals available Contact Bernadette (nee O’Hare), Trevor or Darren Lee on 9746 2949 to arrange an appointment. One of the stand-out achievements of the Task- force has been the way it has helped establish a new nation- al anti-slavery body, the Australian Catholic Anti-Slavery Network, bringing together over 40 Catholic entities ...”