The recipients of the 2026 Freedom Awards will be announced at the Award ceremony, which will be celebrated on Wednesday 02 December at the University of Technology Sydney.
Registration for the event will open in September 2026.
Submission Deadline: Friday 4 September 2026
Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of Technology Sydney
Dr Martijn Boersma is an academic who researches the intersection of business and society. Current projects focus on multistakeholder efforts to improve working conditions in the Australian commercial real estate cleaning supply chain, and strategies to improve labor conditions within the Australian cotton value chain. Together with Justine Nolan he published the book Addressing Modern Slavery (2019).
Executive Director, Global Compact Network Australia
Kylie is a sustainability expert with over 18 years of experience in corporate affairs, sustainability and strategy roles across a broad range of industries. During her career, Kylie has helped numerous companies develop and implement responsible business strategies, managed reputation risk for environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and wrote and managed policies across various thematic areas including climate change and human rights.
Kylie’s career includes working for ANZ Banking Group, National Australia Bank (NAB), Standard Chartered, KPMG and Save the Children and expatriate work in London, Singapore, Nigeria, Switzerland, France and South Africa. Before joining the Global Compact Network Australia, Kylie was the Stakeholder Engagement Manager for Corporate Responsibility at NAB where she held responsibility for internal and external engagement on NAB’s corporate responsibility strategy and management of reputation risk issues. Kylie also served on the Corporate Affairs team for the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Financial Services Industry where she held particular responsibility for NAB’s engagement and relationship with consumer advocacy groups.
Chairman and Managing Director, Konica Minolta Australia
Dr David Cooke was appointed as the first non-Japanese Managing Director of Konica Minolta in Australia in 2013. The company is a global firm operating in the technology sector.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers & Leaders and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is also a non-executive director of UN Global Compact Network Australia and has served on the boards of several anti-human trafficking NGOs.
Director, Anti-Slavery Australia
Jennifer has led the development of Australian best practice antislavery initiatives since 2003. Through her research, advocacy and practice she has pursued legislative amendments and policy developments to promote best practice responses for the prevention of modern slavery and to ensure survivors of modern slavery have access to the protection and support they need.
Jennifer is nationally renowned as a thought leader in the field of human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices, particularly for her work on the prevention of all forms of modern slavery and victim support.
Jennifer was appointed to the inaugural Australian Government National Roundtable on Human Trafficking in 2008 and continues to serve. Jennifer is currently serving as the Interim Anti-Slavery Commissioner for NSW.
When children (under 18) are:
When a person gets married without freely and fully consenting because of coercion, threat or deception or because they’re incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony because of age or mental capacity.
When a person is deceived about their work and their work involves exploitation through a type of modern slavery.
When a person has pledged their services as a security for a debt AND
When a person does not consider themselves free to stop working or to leave their place of work because of coercion, threat or deception.
When a person does not consider themselves free to stop working or to leave their place of work because of coercion, threat or deception AND the person is significantly deprived of their personal freedom in aspects of their life outside of work (eg they’re told when they are allowed to eat, sleep or shower.
When a person exercises powers of ownership over another. In essence, it’s when a person treats another like a commodity or object; able to be sold, purchased or traded.
The recruitment, harbouring or movement of a person by means including coercion, threat, deception, fraud and abduction for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation being serious exploitation – that is at the end of the trafficking journey, the person finds themselves in a form of modern slavery (eg forced labour). The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018, produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, found that 1 in 3 trafficked people finds themselves in forced labour at the end of their journey.