Stopping Human Trafficking
The global trade in the trafficking of women and children into the sex industry has been the subject of media coverage and public and international concern. The parliamentary briefing paper titled Trafficking and the Sex Industry: from Impunity to Protection provides an overview of the growing global trade in trafficking persons for the commercial sex industry and discusses some of the difficulties in reaching consensus on the extent of the problem in Australia.
On 13 October 2003, the Federal Government announced a whole-of-government package to address crimes committed against humanity; specifically human trafficking. As part of this package, the AFP received additional funds to strengthen its capacity to detect, investigate and provide specialist training for crimes of:
- Slavery: Division 270 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 makes it an offence to possess a slave or exercise over a slave any powers attaching to the right of ownership, engage in slave trading or enter into any commercial transaction involving a slave.
- Sexual Servitude and Deceptive Recruiting: Division 270 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 further makes it an offence for a person to cause another person to enter into or remain in sexual servitude or conduct any business that involves the sexual servitude of others. There are also offences relating to the deceptive recruitment of a person to perform sexual services.
- Trafficking in Persons and Debt Bondage: Division 271 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 makes it an offence to traffic persons, whether internationally or domestically. There are also offences relating to debt bondage of persons, forced labour and the trade in human organs.
In response to the package, the AFP established the Transnational Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Team (TSETT) which consists of a TSETT Intelligence team located in Canberra and TSETT Investigation teams located in Sydney and Melbourne where operational resources are currently required. The AFP Annual Report contains information regarding the activities of these teams.
As part of the Bali Process the AFP also provides training to law enforcement agencies within the region to combat human trafficking and related offences.
On 8 May 2007, the Federal Government renewed its commitment to combating human trafficking and its related offences with funding extended to the AFP TSETT teams over a further four years. Media Release from the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department
Reporting Human Trafficking
Assist the AFP in combating this global problem. Use our online form to report information regarding Human Trafficking, Sexual Servitude and Slavery.
Further Resources
- Trafficking in Persons - Attorney-Generals Department Crime Prevention website
- Australian Government Action Plan to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons - Attorney-Generals Department website
- The Bali Process on People Smuggling and Human Trafficking
- Australian Institute of Criminology
- Humantrafficking.org - A web resource for combating human trafficking
- United Nations ODC and human trafficking