Modern slavery is a complex and clandestine social phenomenon that is poorly understood in the Australian context. The settlement sector is integral to Australia’s counter-slavery efforts, and yet, no Australian study has explicitly sought to explore how this group identifies and navigates modern slavery. This paper draws on surveys and interviews with workers in the New South Wales settlement sector, and offers new insights into how certain forms of modern slavery are understood and addressed by professionals working with newly arrived migrants. The findings of the study uncover some of the profound challenges staff encounter in detecting and responding to different exploitative practices. Furthermore, they underscore the significant disjunctions between existing legislative provisions that aim to address modern slavery, and the experiences and understandings of workers at the frontline of the issue. The study demonstrates the need for education and greater investment into modern slavery responses within the settlement sector, and multi-sectoral collaboration to proactively address the systemic issues engendering exploitation at a community level.

现代奴隶制是一种复杂的秘密社会现象，在澳大利亚背景下人们对此知之甚少。定居部门是澳大利亚反奴隶制工作不可或缺的一部分，然而，没有澳大利亚的研究明确寻求探索该群体如何识别和驾驭现代奴隶制。本文以对新南威尔士州定居部门的工人进行的调查和访谈为基础，并提供了新的见解，以了解与新移民一起工作的专业人员如何理解和解决某些形式的现代奴隶制。该研究的发现揭示了员工在发现和应对不同的剥削实践中遇到的一些严峻挑战。此外，它们强调了旨在解决现代奴隶制问题的现行立法条款之间的重大脱节，以及该问题一线工人的经验和理解。该研究表明，有必要对定居部门内的现代奴隶制对策进行教育和加大投资，并开展多部门合作以主动解决在社区一级造成剥削的系统性问题。