ICMEC Australia

Leading with care: How travel companies are protecting children
2025-08-21 14:00 - 15:00 (Australia/Sydney) | NSW
This session highlights the powerful role that the travel and tourism industry can play in protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse. With more than one in four Australians having experienced child sexual abuse (ACMS, 2023), businesses across this sector have a unique opportunity to be part of the solution.

Whether it’s through booking platforms or hotel staff on the ground, companies in travel and accommodation can be in a position to identify risks and respond early. Recent cases in which hotel staff have identified and stopped abuse on their premises serve as a powerful reminder that awareness and training can prevent harm and save lives.

In this webinar, we’ll hear directly from Marriott International and Booking.com on the proactive steps they are taking to strengthen child safeguarding.

Hosted by ICMEC Australia, this session will open with a brief overview of how child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) can occur within the travel and tourism industry, followed by a panel discussion with leaders from Marriott and Booking.com. We’ll explore how businesses can take action and why this work is not just ethical, but essential to building trust, safety, and social impact across the tourism industry.

Please note, the session will run under the Chatham House Rule: while participants may freely use information received during the event, the identity and affiliation of any speakers and participants must not be disclosed without express prior consent.

Your speakers

Abbe Horswill is the Director of Human Rights at Marriott International. She oversees Marriott’s human rights and human trafficking awareness initiatives, manages strategic partnerships and programs with nonprofit organisations, and provides education and guidance on human rights issues. Prior to joining the Marriott team, Abbe spent more than a decade in the anti-trafficking field, working at leading organisations, including Polaris and the National and International Centers for Missing and Exploited Children. She is thrilled to share this field-driven subject matter expertise with Marriott and the hospitality industry to help combat human trafficking, advance human rights, and make a positive social impact.

Jennifer Easterday, Head of Human Rights at Booking.com, leads the development and execution of the company's human rights strategy. Since January 2023, she has built and led a dedicated team advancing business and human rights standards across the organisation. Before Booking.com, she co-founded and served as Executive Director of JustPeace Labs, a non-profit organisation promoting the ethical and responsible development of digital technology. She holds a law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law and is licensed to practice law in California.

Event details

21 August 2025

Thursday

2:00pm – 3:00pm AEST / Sydney time

1:30pm - 2:30pm ACST / Adelaide time

12:00pm - 1:00pm AWST / Perth time

Online event

via Microsoft teams

Registration

Registration for this event has now closed.

For more details on ICMEC Australia's events, visit our industry events page below.

ICMEC AUSTRALIA'S INDUSTRY EVENTS

Not-for-profit Workshop 2025 (Cancelled)
2025-09-05 09:00 - 16:00 UTC

ICMEC Australia Symposium 2025: Convergence
2025-11-06 09:00 - 16:30 UTC
We are proud to present our third major annual event in Sydney, the ICMEC Australia Symposium 2025: Convergence.

From the digital trafficking of children across countries to the financial sexual extortion of young people, child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is an issue that crosses both geographical borders and industry sectors. With more than 1 in 4 Australians having experienced child sexual abuse (ACMS, 2023), we are facing a silent epidemic and a whole-of-system approach is paramount in our fight against this heinous crime.

This in-person, one day event will unite leaders from across the child protection response system, including businesses whose platforms or services may be misused to exploit children. The event will focus on a shared goal: to support and strengthen the professionals who detect, report, prosecute, and prevent CSEA.

The Symposium offers a unique opportunity to engage with leading experts from across public and private sectors, showcasing the latest intelligence, cutting-edge solutions, and innovative strategies driving cross-sector collaboration.

To ensure ICMEC Australia can continue advancing our work in the child protection space, this year’s Symposium will be a paid ticketed event.

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The cost of missing the signs: Addressing CSEA risk
2025-12-15 12:30 - 13:30 (Australia/Sydney)
Financial institutions - including payments providers, crypto exchanges, fintech’s, and banks - play a critical role in preventing child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), often without being fully aware of the influence they already hold. Following recent regulatory learnings, this session brings together industry professionals to provide practical steps to ensure your organisation is equipped to identify risks, strengthen controls, and respond confidently.

We will unpack the financial, regulatory, and reputational risks that can sit within everyday customer activity and demonstrate how finance professionals are uniquely positioned to disrupt and prevent harm from various areas across their company.

Join us for our final Monthly Brown Bag of the year as we outline sector-specific actions financial services organisations can take to move beyond compliance and actively disrupt harm. You will leave with practical next steps and a clear view of how ICMEC Australia can work alongside your institution to build safer systems, reduce risk, and contribute to a stronger, more responsible financial ecosystem.

Your speakers

Nick Kokay

Head of Compliance and MLRO, Australia

Coinbase

More speakers to be confirmed

Event details

15 December 2025

Monday

12:30pm – 1:30pm AEDT / Sydney time

11:30am – 12:30pm AEST / Queensland

12:00pm - 1:00pm ACDT / Adelaide

9:30am - 10:30am AWST / Perth

Online event

via Microsoft teams

Registration

Registration for this event below.

For more details on ICMEC Australia's events, visit our industry events page below.

ICMEC AUSTRALIA'S INDUSTRY EVENTS
