International Day for the Abolition of Slavery occurs annually on 2 December every year. What is presented in this post are selections from a report on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery in Australia during the year 2022, as compiled by the Australian Institute of Criminology.
Human Trafficking Teams are responsible for investigating allegations of modern slavery. These teams are in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, with additional members in other state and territory offices trained in investigating modern slavery.
The Support for Trafficked People Program is administered by the Department of Social Services and delivered nationally by the Australian Red Cross. The Support for Trafficked People Program was established by the Australian Government in 2004 to provide support to victim-survivors of modern slavery. Case managers are responsible for supporting clients to access services to meet their individual needs, including access to health care, social support, available accommodation, and referrals to legal services.
During the reporting period, the Australian Federal Police was the only agency that could refer suspected victim-survivors of modern slavery to the Support for Trafficked People Program. Referred individuals must be an Australian citizen or hold a valid visa. If an individual does not hold a valid visa, they can obtain a visa under the Australian Government’s Human Trafficking Visa Framework.
Exploitation type
In this report, the terms human trafficking and modern slavery and modern slavery refer to all human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like offences prescribed in Divisions 270 and 271 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). This report categorises exploitation into the following types:
- • slavery;
- • servitude—domestic;
- • servitude—sexual;
- • servitude—other;
- • forced labour;
- • deceptive recruiting;
- • forced marriage;
- • debt bondage;
- • trafficking in persons—entering Australia;
- • trafficking in persons—exit trafficking;
- • trafficking in children;
- • domestic trafficking;
- • domestic trafficking in children;
- • organ trafficking;
- • domestic organ trafficking; and
- • harbouring a victim.
Servitude is broken down into the subcategories domestic, sexual and other; and trafficking in persons into entering Australia and exit trafficking. Exit trafficking is trafficking of persons out of Australia.
Exploitation type and industry
The likelihood of reports being accepted for investigation varied according to the exploitation type and industry involved. Exit trafficking reports were most likely to be accepted for investigation and not subsequently withdrawn (61% of all reports including an allegation of exit trafficking), followed by forced marriage and sexual servitude.
Two-thirds of the 51 reports accepted for investigation and not subsequently withdrawn referred to one type of exploitation and just over a third referred to multiple types of exploitation. Almost half of these referred to alleged forced marriage. Over a third of reports accepted for investigation and not subsequently withdrawn related to alleged exit trafficking and a fifth related to sexual servitude. Altogether, 88 percent of reports accepted for investigation and not subsequently withdrawn referred to alleged slavery or slavery-like offences and 47 percent to human trafficking offences. Of the 18 reports with multiple exploitation types, most referred to alleged human trafficking (entry/exit) and another type of exploitation). Nine reports referred to both alleged human trafficking and forced marriage.
Suspected victim-survivors
Suspected victim-survivors were identified from 42 of the 51 reports of modern slavery accepted for investigation by the Australian Federal Police between 1 July and 31 December 2022 and not subsequently withdrawn. Seventy-two suspected victim-survivors were identified from these 42 reports. The remaining nine reports had no identified victim-survivor.
Gender and age
Females comprised 90 percent of identified suspected victim-survivors between 1 July and 31 December 2022 and males comprised 10 percent.Seventy-four percent of suspected victim-survivors were adults aged 18 years or over and 26 percent were aged less than 18 years, most of whom were female. Almost three-quarters of victim-survivors were under the age of 30, and a quarter of female victim-survivors were aged under 18 years. The most common age groups among suspected victim-survivors were 18–24 years, followed by less than 18 years and 25–29 years.
Place of birth and residency
Place of birth was recorded for 70 identified suspected victim-survivors (97%), spanning 20 different countries. Fourteen percent of these victim-survivors were born in Australia and 86 percent were born overseas. In terms of region, 39 percent of suspected victim-survivors were born in Oceania and Antarctica. Almost a quarter of victim-survivors were born in South-East Asia and a fifth in Southern and Central Asia. Approximately one in four suspected victim-survivors required an interpreter to engage with police.
The 60 suspected victim-survivors born overseas were most commonly related to reports involving trafficking in persons, forced labour, forced marriage, deceptive recruitment and exit trafficking. The 10 suspected victim-survivors born in Australia were most commonly related to reports involving exit trafficking and forced marriage.
Support for Trafficked People Program
Support provided
This section describes the most common types of support provided to suspected victim-survivors referred to the Support for Trafficked People Program between 1 July and 31 December 2022. The types of support received by clients during the reference period include: financial support; emergency items; employment, education and training; accommodation and housing support; assistance accessing legal advice; assistance accessing medical and healthcare services; and social and emotional support. Access to these supports is often facilitated through referrals to specialist agencies. Most suspected victim-survivors referred to the Support for Trafficked People Program had multiple support needs. Suspected victim-survivors received on average five types of support during the reference period. Different types of support may have been provided beyond the reference period.
Almost all suspected victim-survivors received social and emotional support and financial support. Social support involves building someone’s access to healthy social networks, sense of belonging and connection to community. This can include supporting people to engage in activities, projects, cultural community groups, peer support activities and local religious networks. It can also include helping people navigate systems such as health care and transport. Emotional support involves building a trusting relationship and building people’s confidence by listening without judgment; being empathetic and compassionate; validating their experiences; offering encouragement, hope, reassurance and guidance; acknowledging strengths and achievements; being present; and asking them what they need. Financial support may include short-term payments (eg basic necessities, crisis accommodation) and support with longer-term financial stability.
Approximately two-thirds of suspected victim-survivors received support accessing emergency items and accommodation and housing support. Emergency items may include essential items such as food, clothing and toiletries. Accommodation and housing support may include crisis accommodation, short-term accommodation and longer-term housing solutions.
