TFH Ethical Business Services

A donor asked recently: “What does my donation actually do?”

Here’s a grounded answer.

It helps fund trauma-informed survivor support that includes:
safe community, recovery-focused learning, workplace readiness training, and pathways into stable employment.

That’s the work behind real freedom.

Donation link in the comments.
👉🏼 tax deductible

A modern slavery statement means very little if a worker is being exploited behind the closed door of a private home.

New research into migrant workers in home-based care reveals wage theft, sham contracting, racism, unsafe conditions, blurred job boundaries and workers who are afraid to report what is happening.

These are not only workplace safety concerns.

They are warning signs that exploitation may be escalating towards modern slavery.

At The Freedom Hub, we have supported survivors who experienced similar patterns of isolation, passport control, unpaid labour, visa-related fear and coercion. We know how easily abuse can be hidden when the workplace is someone’s home and the role is framed as “caring” or “helping”.

Australia’s care sector needs a modern slavery lens.

That means businesses, providers and regulators must look beyond policies and compliance documents. Workers need fair contracts, clear role boundaries, culturally appropriate information and safe reporting pathways that lead to meaningful action.

Most importantly, prevention must include the voices of people who understand coercion and control through lived experience.

Read our response to the research and what Australia must learn about modern slavery in home-based care:

https://thefreedomhub.org/blog/ending-modern-slavery/when-care-work-becomes-modern-slavery/

When Care Work becomes Modern Slavery - The Freedom Hub Migrant care workers face hidden exploitation, forced labour and servitude. The Freedom Hub explains what businesses and regulators must see.

Most modern slavery statements are written to say as little as possible.

That's exactly what makes them a risk.

Under the Modern Slavery Act 2018, reporting entities have to disclose the risks in their operations and supply chains — and what they're doing about them. But a statement written as a legal shield doesn't hide weak governance. It advertises it — to regulators, investors and procurement teams who all read between the lines.

A strong modern slavery statement does five things well:

→ Treats the statement as the receipt for real work, not an annual writing exercise
→ Names the risk to people — recruitment fees, withheld passports, debt bo***ge — not just "manufacturing in Country X"
→ Shows what actually changed: contract clauses, procurement screening, trained contract managers, grievance pathways
→ Doesn't go silent on remediation — what happens when harm is found
→ Measures honestly, including what it can't yet measure

The real test before your board signs off: read it as a worker in your supply chain, not a corporate stakeholder. Would it sound honest?

We've put together the full guide for businesses doing this properly. Link in the comments 👇

What's the hardest part of getting your statement right — visibility past tier-one suppliers, or knowing what "good" actually looks like?

She was told no one would believe her. She was wrong.

Today, that same woman walks into our Survivor School each week, learning, healing, and rebuilding a life that was stolen from her.

Modern slavery doesn’t only happen “somewhere else.” It happens here, and recovery takes time, safety, and people willing to stand alongside survivors.

That’s where you come in.

With only days left in the financial year, your tax-deductible gift funds the support that turns survival into freedom. Not a statistic. A person. A future.

Will you stand with her before 30 June? 💜

→ link in bio

There’s a new business impact hub coming to Waterloo. Help build it.

TFH is launching a new Makerspace community hub in the Waterloo Metro precinct, designed to grow ethical local economies and fund survivor support.

This is part of building a model that can scale state by state.

If your EOFY giving can help build infrastructure that multiplies long-term impact, please donate. Link in the comments. 👉🏼 tax deductible

What businesses say privately about modern slavery risk..

We hear the quiet part out loud.

In workshops, leaders rarely start with “we don’t care.” They start with worry. They tell us they have long supply chains, thin margins, old systems, and suppliers who do not want to share details. They are trying to do the right thing, while still shipping product, hitting budgets, and keeping customers happy.

Here’s the hard truth we share from our work at TFH. Private conversations often sound like this:
“We’ve never seen an actual case, so the risk can’t be that high.” Or,
“Our auditors would have picked it up.”

Modern slavery stays hidden because people are controlled, coached, moved, and scared to speak.

Globally, an estimated 50 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021. That scale should change the way you read “low risk.”

👉 Map one product or service you buy that uses labour-heavy inputs. Go past tier 1 and name the labour broker or subcontracting layer.
👉 Build a “speak-up” pathway that does not rely on the supplier alone. Use trusted local partners and worker voice channels.

Your values can show up in procurement without slowing the business down.

Save this post for your next supplier review, share it with a leader who owns risk, and add a comment with what is hardest to see in your own supply chain. If you want a simple way to start, DM us.

This is our Sydney staff hanging out & working at Canva cafe while we fit out our new venue at the Waterloo Metro. It’s a bit weird having no office and managing our 198 survivors of slavery with very little regular income. (we usually fund ourselves through our social enterprise and local private - not government - grants)

If you are considering a tax deduction for the end of EOFY - please consider us!
Link in comments.

Our Makerspace challenge is growing! A massive thanks to Daphna for being the latest to chip in.

We working towards a huge goal of $200,000.00 and we would really appreciate your support.

Donate here: https://makerspace.raiselysite.com

Makerspace Makerspace : Make a donation today to support Makerspace

Pregnancy in the shadows - in Australia.

“For women like Priscilla who harvest the fruit and vegetables that stock Australia’s supermarket shelves, motherhood here can mean injury, debt, secrecy and fear.

She is one of an unknown number of Pacific Islander women who have fallen pregnant while living and working in Australia without valid visas. They cannot access Medicare or health insurance, or secure maternity support.”

At The Freedom Hub Survivor School we support a few women who have been in this exact position. It is shocking to hear how some of them have been treated.

Read the full ABC story here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-14/pacific-farm-worker-pregnancies-undocumented-labour/106779364

Support our work here:
thefreedomhub.org/donate

These women are harvesting our food. Why are they giving birth in secret? For the Pacific Islander women who harvest the fruit and vegetables that stock Australia’s supermarket shelves, motherhood here can mean injury, debt, secrecy and fear.