Modern slavery and migrant worker exploitation were the focus of a recent Juncture event.
“How do we ensure that our economic systems, institutions and everyday practices uphold human dignity and freedom, not exploitation and harm—whether in workplaces, communities or across global supply chains?” asked Dr Drew Franklin, Associate Director for Juncture: Dialogues on Inclusive Capitalism.
This question is particularly urgent in New Zealand, where no legislation currently requires companies to identify or report slavery risks within their supply chains, in contrast to countries such as Australia and the UK that have already introduced such measures.
As the United Nations Academic Impact hub Chair for Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8), the University of Auckland is tasked with advancing Target 8.7, which calls for decisive action to eradicate modern slavery. During the Juncture event, held at the University’s Business School, five experts were invited to share practical recommendations on how to move towards this goal.
Rebekah Armstrong, Head of Advocacy and Justice at World Vision New Zealand, explained that modern slavery and worker exploitation sit on a continuum, but modern slavery represents its most extreme form. It carries the characteristics of chattel slavery: “severe exploitation of people for someone else’s profit or gain,” including forced labour, bonded labour and hazardous forms of child labour. Vulnerability, coercion and deception are often central to these situations.
Modern slavery is not confined to distant regions. People are trapped in such conditions within New Zealand, and in the global supply chains behind products sold here.
Armstrong argued strongly for legislation that mandates not only reporting but remediation: “Let’s create legislation that has teeth.” She also highlighted a major gap: New Zealand lacks a national referral mechanism or adequately resourced victim-support pathway for victims to feel safe coming forward.
Professor John Dumay, Professor of Accounting and Finance at Macquarie University, offered a perspective from within global supply chains. Dumay works with the NGO – Be Slavery Free- on the Chocolate Scorecard, which assess major cocoa companies on living income, child labour, forced labour and sustainability. The initiative’s strength, he noted, lies in its collaborative model: “We call this name and fame, not name and shame.” Companies participate voluntarily and engage openly, acknowledging problems and developing remediation programmes.
Dumay expressed the importance of taking a due diligence approach including remediation – instead of cutting supply chains: “By admitting there’s child labour in your supply chain, you can actually fix it.”
Sharleen Gargiulo, Sustainability Lead at Air New Zealand, stressed the responsibility of individual consumers and businesses. Everyone, she said, should be asking where products come from and how they were produced. While supply chains can be large and complex, businesses must identify areas of elevated risk and build open, trusted relationships with suppliers.
Dr Christina Stringer, Director of the Centre for Research on Modern Slavery, argued that temporary migrant exploitation in New Zealand is structurally produced through temporary visa schemes such as tied or employer-sponsored visas. Introduced to address labour shortages, these visas can leave migrants with restricted rights and high vulnerability, creating conditions for wage theft, cash-back schemes and exorbitant visa premiums.
“International literature has identified tied visas as a key driver of migrant exploitation,” she noted, highlighting that other temporary visa schemes continue to enable abuse.
Oliver Christeller, from the Human Rights Commission, argued that protecting migrant workers begins with a shared aspiration: “people should be able to work and live in this country with dignity.” Yet current immigration policy settings fail to ensure this. Rather than blaming individuals, he urges focusing on structural reform: building visas that genuinely safeguards migrant rights and prevents vulnerability.
Across the forum, the message was clear: ending modern slavery demands strong laws that include remediation, empowered victims, responsible businesses, and immigration reform. With international momentum building, New Zealand faces a pivotal opportunity to confront hidden exploitation and build an economy that respects dignity for all.
The dialogue was facilitated by Professor Christine Woods, Gattung Chair for Women and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland.
Resources
Modern slavery reading list
Modern slavery – follow up Q&As
Media article published in The Press, The Post and Waikato Times
Photo credit: Simon Young, Media Productions
Event panellists
John Dumay
Professor John Dumay is a Professor of Accounting and Finance at Macquarie University, Sydney. He has worked for over 15 years as an independent business consultant across various industries before completing his PhD in 2008. He undertakes research into modern slavery, sustainability accounting and reporting, intellectual capital, knowledge management, qualitative research methods and academic writing. Dumay has achieved an outstanding record as the author or co-author of over 120 peer-reviewed academic journal articles, publishing in prestigious journals and Elsevier and Stanford University study has recognised him as one of the world’s top 2% of scientists. The Australian newspaper has recognised him as Australia’s Top Researcher in Accounting & Taxation for 2020, 2022 to 2024. He is currently an Associate Editor of Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal and Meditari Accountancy Research.
Christina Stringer
Dr Christina Stringer is an Associate Professor of International Business and Director of the Centre for Research on Modern Slavery at the University of Auckland Business School. For over a decade, she has conducted research on the exploitation of temporary migrant workers in New Zealand, including research for the Human Trafficking Research Coalition and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Stringer has served on several advisory groups focused on modern slavery and migrant exploitation, most recently as a member of the Labour Government’s Modern Slavery Leadership Advisory Group.
Rebekah Armstrong
Rebekah Armstrong is a leading specialist in business and human rights and humanitarian law. As Head of Advocacy and Justice at World Vision New Zealand, she has spearheaded the campaign for modern slavery legislation, co-authoring the Combatting Trafficking in Persons and Modern Day Forms of Slavery Bill, which has directly influenced two private members bills tabled at parliament by New Zealand’s largest political parties. She served on the New Zealand Government’s Modern Slavery Leadership Advisory Group, is an advisory member of the Centre for Research on Modern Slavery at Auckland University, and chairs the Human Trafficking Research Coalition. Before joining World Vision, Armstrong held senior leadership positions at the New Zealand Human Rights Commission and the UNHCR in Iran. Her Master of Laws thesis critically examined New Zealand’s legal framework for trafficking in persons. She is also an enrolled barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.
Sharleen Gargiulo
Sharleen Gargiulo is a sustainability professional with over 17 years’ experience advancing responsible supply chains and tackling complex social and environmental challenges. Her current role is Sustainability Lead at Air New Zealand, where she leads initiatives that embed fairness, transparency, and resilience into procurement and supplier relationships, with a strong focus on human rights, modern slavery risks, and environmental stewardship. Her work addresses the intertwined wellbeing of people and nature — spanning labour rights, climate resilience, circularity, biodiversity, and supplier inclusion. Gargiulo is passionate about collaboration, partnering with government, science institutes, iwi, suppliers, and communities to drive systemic change.
Oliver Christeller
Oliver Christeller is the Senior Human Rights Advisor to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission. With a background in employment law, his work at the Commission has included a focus on addressing the systemic drivers of migrant exploitation and modern slavery. Christeller was a key contributor to the Commission’s human rights review of the Accredited Employer Work Visa, which was grounded on interviews with workers who had lived experience of exploitation and took into account the views of a broad range of stakeholders from civil society and business. He currently plays a leading role in the Commission’s ongoing work to advance pay equity.
Event facilitator:
Professor Christine Woods is the Dame Theresa Gattung Chair for Women and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland Business School and is the Director of the Aotearoa Centre for Enterprising Women. She gained her PhD at the University of Auckland. Her research interests are in women and entrepreneurship, SME and family business, social entrepreneurship, Māori entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education.
