Stepping up the fight to end modern slavery

Over the past decade, hundreds of people who have escaped enslavement in Australia have recovered with support from The Freedom Hub. With an aim to help many more, the social enterprise has evolved its model to tackle this insidious crime, with backing from Westpac Foundation.

 

Sally Irwin's world was rocked when she discovered that human trafficking was rife in Australia. 

 

“Naively, I thought we were immune to this horrific crime,” says the Sydney-based social entrepreneur, who’d learnt about the shocking extent of the crime in Europe when she’d volunteered to support survivors in Berlin after relocating there for three years with her husband from 2009. 

 

 “But when we returned home and I was considering how I could continue to help those survivors from afar, I realised to my horror that it’s also happening right here in our country,” Sally recalls.  

 

“People are living in slavery across Australia, not only in the sex trade but many other industries.” The Global Slavery Index estimates around 41,000 people in Australia are enslaved, but Sally says on-the-ground evidence suggests it’s a much higher number. “It’s unacceptable, and it must stop.”

 

 Sally’s outrage motivated her to set up The Freedom Hub in 2014 – a social enterprise dedicated to ending modern slavery and providing life-long support and employment opportunities to survivors. 

 

 At the heart of the enterprise is a ‘Survivor School’ which offers free, trauma-informed classes to assist survivors in their recovery and prepare them for the workforce. Wellness workshops, peer support and community activities build participants’ confidence and social circles, and graduates are supported into work experience with partner companies.  

 

 “When we first meet these survivors a lot of them have lost hope. They have very little confidence, they don't know who to trust, they're scared and have great shame. To see them regain their sense of self shows just how resilient they are,” says Sally, who estimates more than 250 survivors have been supported to date. Around 70 survivors are currently in training, with prospects of following in the footsteps of the many who have already accessed partnered employment pathways.  

 

 To underpin the program, Sally launched a Sydney-based café, which offers catering and events, and an online retail store, with 100 percent of profits invested back into the Survivor School.  

 

To significantly step up impact, more recently she’s added another arm to the enterprise, the Ethical Business Advisory Service, providing advice and training to businesses of all sizes on managing modern slavery and human rights risks in their partnerships, supply chains and organisational procedures in line with various global legislated requirements. 

 

“It’s a very holistic model,” she explains of the service which has been taken up by more than 500 businesses nationally and globally since it ramped up in 2022, aided by support from Westpac Foundation including around $120,000 in grant funding. “We are helping those businesses with survivor-informed guidance based on years of real experience – and in turn those businesses are helping survivors with 100 percent of profits invested in our programs.”  

 

 In addition to grant funding, Sally has tapped into resources facilitated by Westpac Foundation to grow the business, such as brand development, leadership coaching, skilled volunteers and networking opportunities. “The team at Westpac Foundation intrinsically understand the importance of helping our business to thrive,” Sally says. “They give so much more than just money.”

 

 Ultimately, this backing will bring Sally’s ambition closer within reach: to support more modern slavery survivors by launching Survivor Schools in every Australian capital city, while working with more businesses to eliminate the crime.