UWA Modern Slavery Research Cluster, supported by the UWA Institute of Advanced Studies, invites you to the public lecture by Professor Dame Sara Thornton. Since the introduction of the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Act 2024, Australia will have its first Anti-Slavery Commissioner. The UK has had an Anti-Slavery Commissioner since 2014. In this public lecture, Dame Sara will discuss what we can learn from the UK experience and whether an Anti-Slavery Commissioner can really make a difference.

Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM is a Professor of Modern Slavery Policy at the Rights Lab in the University of Nottingham where her focus is on research in the area of prevention, business responses, supply chains, and the role of the financial sector in tackling modern slavery. She is particularly focussed on the important role of investors and works as a modern slavery consultant for CCLA Investment Management. Dame Sara completed a three-year term as the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner in April 2022, a role in which she spearheaded the UK’s fight against human trafficking and modern slavery. Prior to that, she pursued a career in policing. She served as Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police from 2007 to 2015 and as Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council from 2015 to 2019.