Providing strong and effective protection against modern slavery requires crucial amendments to proposed laws to be introduced in Federal Parliament, Oxfam Australia said today. Oxfam Australia’s Economic Policy Adviser Joy Kyriacou said the Modern Slavery Bill was an important step in the right direction, but lacked critical elements that would make sure Australian businesses could […]
Responding to the report released today by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security that suggests amending to the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme (FITS) Bill to exempt the work of Australian charities, Oxfam Australia’s Head of Public Policy and Advocacy Rachel Ball said: “Oxfam Australia welcomes the Committee’s recommendation that the FITS Bill be […]
Commenting on the push to have large company tax cuts pass through the Senate this week, Oxfam Australia’s economic policy advisor Joy Kyriacou said: “The proposed $65 billion hand-out for big business would make Australia the latest country to join the global race to the bottom on corporate tax rates. “Slashing the corporate tax rate […]
The monsoon rains falling on the Rohingya refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar, southern Bangladesh, have caused over 130 landslides, damaged 3,300 shelters and affected 28,000 refugees, Oxfam said today. A survey of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh carried out by Oxfam before the start of the monsoon season found that more than half were almost completely […]
Appearing today before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security supplementary public consultation on the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill, Oxfam Australia’s Public Policy and Advocacy Manager Rachel Ball said: “Advocating to the Government and public is an important part of Oxfam’s work in empowering communities and tackling poverty, and without significant amendments we […]
Oxfam has started to provide desperately needed food to thousands of people caught up in the Ebola outbreak in Equateur province. Oxfam is distributing rice, beans and flour, to about 4,525 people. It has already started in Mbandaka – the provincial capital – and plans to extend to rural communities. This is in addition providing […]
The UN and NGOs received warnings over the weekend for staff to evacuate the vital port of Hodeida by today, Tuesday 12 June, affirming the humanitarian community’s worst fears for Yemen. The UN peace envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, has previously said that this attack would “take peace off the table in a single stroke,” […]
Escalation of fighting around Yemen’s port city of Hudaydah threatens to cut off essential supplies to millions of people who are already one step away from famine, international agency Oxfam warned today. Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen, Muhsin Siddiquey said the fighting had already forced hundreds of families to flee their homes. “Yemen is already […]
Oxfam today called for urgent action to prevent millions of people being hit by famine in South Sudan. The warning follows a report last week from the Famine Early Warning Network (FEWSNET) which found that one in five households in the eastern town of Pibor could already be classed as hitting famine levels of hunger. […]
First published in The Herald Sun newspaper on 21 May 2018 The impending monsoon rains are bearing down on the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and there’s no getting around it – it’s going to be a really tough time. I’ve just returned to Melbourne from three weeks working for Oxfam’s Rohingya crisis response team. […]