NSW Report Links Berry Farms and Labour Hire Firms to Migrant Exploitation
A NSW parliamentary report alleges migrant berry pickers were subjected to debt bondage, sexual exploitation and possible trafficking, prompting calls for investigation.
A parliamentary inquiry in New South Wales produced a landmark report that alleges a small syndicate of labour-hire firms on the mid-north coast placed migrant berry pickers into debt bondage, sexual servitude and possibly people-trafficking. Evidence from Anti-Slavery Commissioner James Cockayne points to “interlocking patterns of conduct” linking these agencies with farm operators, owners and buyers in the Coffs Harbour and Nambucca Valley regions, including a claim that a workers’ accommodation was used as an illegal brothel.
The report, which contains 31 recommendations, urged immediate government action. Berries Australia executive Rachel McKenzie said she had not seen specific instances but called the behaviour criminal and noted growers’ fear of speaking out. Oz Group co-founder Gurmesh Singh, a former director, rejected claims that his former cooperative used labour hire. On the day the findings were tabled, the state safety regulator SafeWork carried out unannounced farm inspections.
Why it matters
It reveals potential modern-slavery practices in a major Australian industry, demanding government and corporate response.
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