The Catholic Weekly 26 March 2023

catholicweekly.com.au 14 NEWS 26 March 2023 THOUSANDS OF undergrad- uate students are entering the workforce more conscious of the challenges posed by modern slavery and how to address this through an ini- tiative led jointly by the Aus- tralian Catholic Universi- ty (ACU) and the Australian Catholic Anti-Slavery Net- work (ACAN). Launched as a pilot pro- gram for 700 students late last year and now expanded to cover over 3000 first and third year undergraduates, mod- ern slavery content has now been formally introduced into ACU’s core curriculum. Through the new initiative, students are equippedwith the skills to define and measure modern slavery and respond effectively to it, understand its principal causes and how it intersects with economic and labour policy, environmental degradation, human rights and development. ACAN’s executive man- ager Jenny Stanger said the program will help ensure that current and future genera- tions of ACU graduates are better equipped to under- stand the challenges of mod- ern slavery and combat it ef- fectively. “You see many job de- scriptions online that include the need for skills in modern slavery risk management,” Ms Stanger said. “We are hoping in the future to build on this part- nership with ACU to cover postgraduate executive edu- ¾ Michael Kenny ACU students learn how to fightmodern slavery ACU students visiting the Eco-Friendly City, managed by Sant’Egidio in Rome. PHOTO: ACU cation programs too, because ultimately it’s the people who govern business and govern organisations who are re- sponsible for modern slavery risk management.” The new collaboration was possible through the work of the university’s stakehold- er engaged scholarship unit which allows external organ- isations to partner with ACU academics on collaborative projects. “Modern slavery was a per- fect fit for the core curriculum at ACU where we do focus on Catholic social teaching and Catholic social thought,” explains faculty of theology and philosophy academic Dr Blake Wassell. “Students benefiting from the core curriculum come from all over the university, including education, arts, health sciences, law, business, theology and philosophy.” “We know the most recent estimates claim an extraor- dinary 50 million people in our world today experience modern slavery, mostly in the form of forced labour and forced marriage, which is up from around 40 mil- lion only five years ago.” “It’s vital then that we see more and more graduates emerge from our universities with an awareness of this is- sue and with various tools to respond to it.” Third year education stu- dent Maya Daniels recently returned from a semester of study at ACU’s Rome cam- pus, in which she undertook the modern slavery studies as part of her core curriculum units. “This will really help me in my future career as an Eng- lish and history teacher in secondary schools to help me present my students with the knowledge and resources to encourage them to become well informed global citizens,” she said. As part of her studies in Rome, Maya saw first-hand the work of Catholic organ- isations working to combat modern slavery and make better use of resources in an eco-friendly city, managed by the lay movement, Sant’Egid- io. “We saw volunteers help- ing to sort through thousands of pieces of clothing to give to the poor and we also visited a vaccination clinic aimed at helping everyone access good healthcare and mostly staffed by retired medical personnel and volunteers”. The pilot program was made possible through a col- laboration with ACU’s stake- holder engaged scholarship Unit in conjunction with ACU’s faculty of theology and philosophy and ACAN. To advertise your employment positions call KATIE (02) 9390 5402 PAYMENT OPTIONS 1. Pay via: □ Mastercard □ Visa □ Amex Card number __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Expiry Date _____ / _________ Cardholder’s name & address __________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Phone _______________________________________________________ 2. Pay with Cheque made payable to ‘The Catholic Weekly’ Please return this form to: The Catholic Weekly, Level 13, 133 Liverpool St, Sydney NSW 2000 or email [email protected] For further enquiries contact Rita on (02) 9390 5411 SUBSCRIPTIONS To subscribe online go to www.catholicweekly.com.au/shop PRINT OPTIONS  3 MONTHS PRINT SUBSCRIPTION FOR $55 (for delivery in Australia)  6 MONTHS PRINT SUBSCRIPTION FOR $85 (for delivery in Australia)  12 MONTHS PRINT SUBSCRIPTION FOR $150 (for delivery in Australia)  12 MONTHS PRINT SUBSCRIPTION TO ASIA $310  12 MONTHS PRINT SUBSCRIPTION OUTSIDE ASIA $354 We know the most recent estimates claim an extraordinary 50 million people in our world today experi- ence modern slavery ...” Dr Blake Wassell