SYDNEY - s4story -- Sally Irwin OAM, received the Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division as part of the 2026 King's Birthday Honours List on Monday June 8th 2026.

The Medal of the Order of Australia recognises Irwin's sustained contribution to survivors of modern slavery and the broader community including her advisory roles with the Australian Anti-Trafficking Network, the New South Wales Forced Marriage Network, the Queensland Network to End Slavery and Trafficking, the advisory group for the Australian Action Plan to Combat Modern Slavery, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative 8.7 and Westpac's Safe Children Safe Communities Advisory Group.

Sally Irwin founded The Freedom Hub after returning to Australia following working overseas with people affected by human trafficking and realising it happened in Australia too.

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The Freedom Hub provides trauma-informed education, wraparound care, peer support, employment preparation and pathways to lasting work. After exploitation, survivors need more than emergency support. They need time, community, skills, confidence and opportunities to rebuild their lives.

"Gaining freedom is only the beginning of the journey for survivors of modern slavery. The Freedom Hub supports victim-survivors as they rebuild their lives with dignity, safety, connection and hope", said Sally Irwin OAM, "our organisation bridges the gap between immediate crisis care and the much needed long-term rehabilitation each individual needs".

An estimated 41,000 individuals live in modern slavery in Australia, reflecting a prevalence of 1.6 victims per 1,000 people. However, the crisis remains heavily underreported, with experts estimating that only one in five cases are actually reported.

Alongside its Survivor School, The Freedom Hub works with businesses on modern slavery risk, training, due diligence, survivor-informed engagement, incident response and remediation. Its Waterloo cafe, catering, events and ethical retail activities operate as social enterprises, with 100% of profits supporting their survivor programs.

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Mrs Irwin's OAM provides an opportunity to bring greater public attention to survivor recovery and the practical actions individuals, businesses and communities can take to address modern slavery.

The Freedom Hub's mission is to end slavery in Australia, help survivors recover and thrive and partner with businesses and organisations to reduce slavery both locally and globally. The Freedom Hub is a registered charity and does not receive government funding with all activity and programs being made possible by generous donors and their own social enterprises business units.

For more information on how to support the cause visit https://thefreedomhub.org/.

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