Human trafficking in Australia

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Human trafficking in Australia is illegal under Divisions 270 and 271 of the Criminal Code (Cth).^[1] In September 2005, Australia ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children,^[2] which supplemented the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.^[3] Amendments to the Criminal Code were made in 2005 to implement the Protocol.^[4]

Australia's response to human trafficking has been evolving significantly since 2005. From the government concentrating mainly on sex trafficking, to placing more focus on labour trafficking, forced marriage, organ removal and criminal exploitation.^[5]

In 2017, the government investigated 166 trafficking cases, compared to the 105 of 2016, of which six defendants were prosecuted and five traffickers were convicted. Prosecutions from 2016 were continued in 2017 by the authorities against 14 defendants, in which one sex trafficker, and in another case four labour traffickers, were convicted.^[6]

The extent of human trafficking in Australia is difficult to quantify.^[7] However, it has been estimated that between 300 and 1000 persons are victims of trafficking a year.^[8] The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) lists Australia as one of 21 trafficking destination countries in the high destination category.^[9]

The Australian Institute of Criminology has stated:

Suspected victims of trafficking are in a unique position. Like other victims of crime, they may be deeply affected by their experience; but, unlike other victims of crime, they may also have a tenuous migration status in a foreign country, where they may speak little of the language and know only the people who have exploited them. In addition, there is the fear of being identified as a victim of crime. As a result, suspected victims of trafficking can be highly vulnerable and isolated.^[10]

Migrant sex workers targeted by anti-trafficking policing in Australia have had their human rights curtailed and their workplaces have been impacted in negative ways.^[11]

According to the U.S. Department of State, 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP), Australia fully met the standards for the elimination of trafficking and was placed on Tier 1. The government proved to have made significant efforts during the reporting year by investigating more cases, identifying and referring more victims to services, convicting more traffickers, and administering programs to provide services to community groups and assistance to workers.^[12]

The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 1" in 2017^[13] and 2023.^[14]

In 2023, the Organised Crime Index gave the country a score of 3.5 out of 10 for human trafficking, noting that two-thirds of prosecutions did not reach court.^[15]