Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery in Australia 2026
Australia ended the 2024–25 financial year with a record that nobody wanted: the highest number of human trafficking reports ever received by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in a single year, at 420 reports — the equivalent of more than one report every day of the year, and a figure that is nearly double the number reported just five years ago. AFP Commander Helen Schneider was unambiguous in contextualising the significance of that number when it was published in October 2025: “The increase in reports was just the tip of the iceberg.” This was not a turn of phrase. Australia’s own research body, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), has used statistical modelling to estimate that for every recorded victim-survivor of modern slavery in Australia, there are approximately four undetected victim-survivors — meaning the true scale of exploitation in this country is, by official estimation, five times what the data shows. The 420 AFP reports translate to a best-estimate of at least 2,100 real victim-survivors in a single year, and that is before accounting for the possibility that even the dark-figure multiplier is itself an undercount.
The 2024–25 financial year was also significant for what it produced in terms of policy infrastructure. The Additional Referral Pathway — a new mechanism allowing potential victims of trafficking and forced marriage to access support services without having to first report to police — completed its pilot phase and was under active government evaluation at the time of writing. The government allocated $24.3 million Australian dollars ($15.07 million USD) to the Support for Trafficked People Program (STPP) over five years from 2023 to 2027. The Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s office, established under the Modern Slavery Act 2018, continued to provide independent oversight and advocacy, with Commissioner Chris Evans explicitly naming forced labour as a “deeply concerning” undercount within the AFP data — a point substantiated by the fact that reports of forced labour fell from 69 to 42 in 2024–25, even as evidence of exploitative labour practices across agriculture, construction, and hospitality continues to mount. And the Australian Institute of Criminology published its landmark Statistical Report No. 56 — Modern Slavery in Australia 2024–25 in December 2025, the most comprehensive national dataset on trafficking ever produced, covering AFP reports, victim support program data, visa frameworks, and prosecution outcomes in a single integrated statistical collection.
Key Facts About Human Trafficking in Australia 2026
FAST FACTS — Human Trafficking in Australia 2026
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AFP reports received 2024–25 (record) : 420
Year-on-year increase : +10% (from 382 in 2023–24)
Growth over 5 years : Nearly doubled (from ~210 in 2019–20)
Reports accepted for investigation (2024–25) : 132 (36% of 371 in HTMS NMDS)
Modern slavery offences identified (2024–25) : 160
Victim-survivors — female : 87%
Perpetrators — male : 88%
Overseas-born perpetrators : ~70%
Estimated undetected victims per reported : 4 (AIC estimate)
Support for Trafficked People Program funding : AUD $24.3 million (2023–2027)
Tier 1 ranking (US State Dept TIP Report 2025): Maintained
Maximum penalty — child trafficking (Div 271) : 25 years' imprisonment
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| Key Fact | Statistic |
|---|---|
| AFP reports received in 2024–25 (record) | 420 |
| AFP reports in 2023–24 | 382 |
| AFP reports in 2022–23 | 340 |
| AFP reports in 2021–22 | 294 |
| AFP reports in 2013–14 (baseline) | 70 |
| Year-on-year increase (2024–25) | +10% |
| 5-year growth | Nearly doubled |
| AFP reports = average rate | More than one report per day |
| HTMS NMDS — reports received (2024–25) | 371 (AIC dataset, covering 1 July 2024–30 June 2025) |
| Reports accepted for investigation (HTMS NMDS, 2024–25) | 132 (36%) |
| Modern slavery offences identified (2024–25) | 160 offences |
| Victim-survivors — female (HTMS NMDS, 2024–25) | 87% |
| Perpetrators — male (HTMS NMDS, 2024–25) | 88% |
| Victim-survivors and perpetrators born overseas | ~70% each |
| Victims referred to STPP in 2024 | 108 (vs 59 in 2023) |
| AIC dark figure estimate | 4 undetected victims per reported victim |
| STPP funding (2023–2027) | AUD $24.3 million ($15.07 million USD) |
| Max penalty — trafficking adult (Division 271) | 12 years’ imprisonment |
| Max penalty — trafficking child (Division 271) | 25 years’ imprisonment |
| Max penalty — slavery (Division 270) | 25 years’ imprisonment |
| Max penalty — forced labour | 12 years’ (aggravated); 9 years’ (other) |
| Max penalty — forced marriage | 7 years’; 9 years’ aggravated |
| US State Department Tier 1 ranking (2025) | Maintained |
| National Action Plan (current) | 2020–2025 NAP |
Source: Australian Federal Police (AFP) — Media Release: Reports of Human Trafficking Nearly Double Over Past Five Years (October 2025); Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) — Modern Slavery in Australia 2024–25, Statistical Report No. 56 (December 2025); Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) — Modern Slavery Data (updated December 2025); US Department of State — 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report: Australia (September 2025); Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner — Statement October 2025
The 420 AFP reports in 2024–25 represent the culmination of a decade of growth that has seen reports increase from just 70 in 2013–14 — a six-fold increase over eleven years. This trajectory is not a straight line: some years saw larger jumps, others were flatter, but the overall direction has been consistently upward. The AIC’s Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery National Minimum Dataset (HTMS NMDS) — which tracks only the 371 reports that passed through the dataset’s collection framework — offers a more analytically granular picture than the headline AFP figure, documenting that of those reports, 132 (36%) were accepted for investigation and not subsequently withdrawn. Of those investigations, 160 modern slavery offences were formally identified — a ratio that reflects both the genuine complexity of proving exploitation in a court-ready investigation and the limited resources available to the AFP’s three dedicated Human Exploitation Command investigation teams in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne.
The $24.3 million commitment to the Support for Trafficked People Program over five years from 2023 to 2027 represents a meaningful expansion of victim support capacity — from the $3.35 million allocated in the single 2022–23 funding year. The doubling of victims referred to the STPP from 59 in 2023 to 108 in 2024 reflects both the new Additional Referral Pathway reducing the barrier to service access and improved identification by frontline agencies. Australia’s Tier 1 ranking in the US State Department’s 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report was maintained — recognising serious and sustained government efforts — but the same report noted that the government “did not adequately screen vulnerable groups, including domestic workers, international students, and migrant workers,” lacked suitable accommodation for victims, and had not banned the importation of goods made with forced labour. These are not minor qualifications.
Exploitation Types and Crime Breakdown in Australia 2026
AFP REPORTS BY CRIME TYPE — 2024–25 (Australia)
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Human trafficking (all types) ████████████████████████████████ ~130 reports
Forced marriage ████████████████████████████ 118 reports
Sexual servitude / slavery ████████████████████████ 84 reports
Exit trafficking (persons) ████████████████████████████████ 75 reports ↑↑
Forced labour █████████████ 42 reports ↓
Modern slavery ████ 12 reports
Domestic trafficking █ 2 reports
OFFENCES IN INVESTIGATED REPORTS (HTMS NMDS, 2024–25, n=160 offences)
Exit trafficking ████████████████████████████████ 32%
Forced marriage ████████████████████████████ 29%
Other 39%
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| Exploitation Type / Crime Metric | Data |
|---|---|
| Human trafficking (all categories, 2024–25) | ~130 reports (most reported type) |
| Forced marriage reports (2024–25) | 118 (up from 91 in 2023–24) |
| Sexual servitude / slavery reports (2024–25) | 84 (up from 59) |
| Exit trafficking reports (2024–25) | 75 (up from 35 — +114% year-on-year) |
| Forced labour reports (2024–25) | 42 (down from 69 — a concern) |
| Modern slavery reports (2024–25) | 12 (up from fewer than 5) |
| Domestic trafficking reports (2024–25) | 2 (up from zero) |
| Organ trafficking / harbouring reports (2024–25) | Zero |
| HTMS NMDS — top offence (2024–25) | Exit trafficking — 32% of identified offences |
| HTMS NMDS — second offence (2024–25) | Forced marriage — 29% of identified offences |
| Most reported type 2023–24 | Human trafficking (first year overtaking forced marriage) |
| Most reported type historically (2015–2022) | Forced marriage |
| Exploitation setting — household/private | 57% of reports |
| Exploitation setting — commercial sex industry | 19% of reports |
| CDPP — known destination for sex trafficking victims | Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea |
| Emerging sectors for labour exploitation | Agriculture, construction, hospitality |
| Forced marriage convictions (2024) | 2 |
| Australia’s primary modern slavery legislation | Divisions 270 and 271, Commonwealth Criminal Code; Modern Slavery Act 2018 |
Source: Australian Federal Police (AFP) Media Release October 2025; AIC — Modern Slavery in Australia 2024–25, Statistical Report No. 56, December 2025; Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner Media Statement, October 2025; AIHW — Modern Slavery data, December 2025; CDPP — Human Trafficking and Slavery (updated 2025)
The exploitation type breakdown in 2024–25 reveals a significant shift in the composition of Australia’s modern slavery caseload. Exit trafficking — a category covering situations where coercion, threats, or deception are used to forcibly or deceptively remove a person from Australia — nearly tripled in a single year, jumping from 35 to 75 reports (a 114% increase). This is the single largest year-on-year shift in any category, and the AFP has attributed it in part to increased community awareness generated by the Human Exploitation Community Officer (HECO) program, which delivered more than 220 presentations and 700 community and NGO engagements in 2024–25 alone. Forced marriage also rose sharply from 91 to 118 reports, a trend the AFP links to more effective community outreach in at-risk diaspora communities and greater willingness to report.
The counter-intuitive drop in forced labour reports from 69 to 42 is what the Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner described as “deeply concerning.” It runs directly against the documented evidence: Australia’s agriculture sector, horticulture industry, cleaning and construction sectors all feature in multiple independent reports of labour exploitation, and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) notes explicitly that while historically most prosecuted cases involved women in the sex industry, “increasingly victims of other forms of labour exploitation are being identified including in the agricultural, construction and hospitality industries.” The gap between documented labour exploitation in these sectors and the formal reporting figures suggests that a large proportion of exploited workers — many of them temporary visa holders with uncertain immigration status — are not reporting to police for fear of deportation, loss of employment, or both. The 57% of reports relating to exploitation in a household or private setting reinforces that the most common exploitation in Australia happens behind closed doors, in domestic arrangements and private accommodation, rather than in the commercial settings that are easiest to inspect and police.
Victim-Survivor Profiles and Perpetrators in Australia 2026
VICTIM-SURVIVOR PROFILE — HTMS NMDS 2024–25 (Australia)
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Female victim-survivors 87%
Male victim-survivors 13%
Born overseas (victims) ~70%
Born overseas (perpetrators) ~70%
Perpetrators — male 88%
HISTORICAL SUPPORT PROGRAM DATA (2009–2019, Red Cross)
Female clients in Support for Trafficked People Program 86%
Clients who identified as female (2022 HTMS pilot) 94%
Clients aged under 18 (2022 HTMS pilot) 44%
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| Victim and Perpetrator Metric | Data |
|---|---|
| Victim-survivors — female (HTMS NMDS, 2024–25) | 87% |
| Victim-survivors — male (HTMS NMDS, 2024–25) | 13% |
| Victim-survivors born overseas | ~70% |
| Perpetrators — male | 88% |
| Perpetrators born overseas | ~70% |
| Support program (STPP) female clients (2009–2019) | 86% across the decade |
| HTMS pilot (Jul–Dec 2022) — female victim-survivors | 94% |
| HTMS pilot (Jul–Dec 2022) — aged under 18 | 44% |
| Victims referred to STPP (2024) | 108 (vs 59 in 2023 — +83%) |
| Main known source countries for trafficking victims | Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea (sex trafficking); Broader South and Southeast Asia |
| AFP HECO presentations (2024–25) | Over 220 presentations |
| AFP HECO community engagements (2024–25) | Over 700 engagements |
| Additional Referral Pathway (ARP) | Launched July 2024; pilot concluded November 2025; evaluation ongoing |
| Forced Marriage Specialist Support Program (FMSSP) | Launched 2 January 2025 |
| FMSSP contact | 1800 403 213 |
| Support for Trafficked People Program (STPP) delivery | Australian Red Cross (nationally) |
| CDPP matters involving trafficking (at 30 June 2025) | 30 matters; 41 defendants charged with 352 offences |
| Defendants committed to trial or sentence | 13 defendants; 40 charges related to trafficking/slavery |
| Diplomat labour trafficking case | Foreign diplomat ordered to pay AUD $136,000 under Fair Work Act |
Source: AIC — Modern Slavery in Australia 2024–25, Statistical Report No. 56 (December 2025); AIC — HTMS NMDS Pilot Report (2024); US Department of State — 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report: Australia; AFP Media Release October 2025; AIHW — Modern Slavery Data; CDPP — Human Trafficking and Slavery (2025)
The victim-survivor profile that emerges from the HTMS NMDS 2024–25 data is consistent with what Australian authorities have documented for more than a decade: the typical identified victim is female, born overseas, and encountered by Australian agencies in a situation of exploitation tied to either sexual servitude or forced marriage. The 87% female share is consistent with the 86% recorded across the Support for Trafficked People Program’s decade of operation from 2009 to 2019. The ~70% overseas-born proportion among both victim-survivors and perpetrators reflects the demographic reality of Australia’s modern slavery problem: it is heavily concentrated among immigrant, migrant worker, and international student communities, where language barriers, visa uncertainty, social isolation, and unfamiliarity with Australian laws and entitlements create the conditions for exploitation.
The 108 victims referred to the STPP in 2024 — an 83% increase from 59 in 2023 — is one of the most concrete signals that the system is improving its capacity to reach and support survivors. Much of this increase is attributable to the Additional Referral Pathway launched in July 2024, which for the first time allowed community providers and NGOs to refer potential victims directly to the STPP without requiring AFP involvement as a precondition. This was a structurally significant change: for many victims, particularly those in forced marriage situations or labour exploitation, contacting the AFP was an insurmountable barrier. The new Forced Marriage Specialist Support Program, launched 2 January 2025, further extends the support architecture for one of the fastest-growing trafficking categories. At the prosecution level, the CDPP’s active caseload of 30 matters involving 41 defendants charged with a total of 352 offences as at 30 June 2025 — including 13 defendants committed to trial or sentence — reflects a justice pipeline that is active, if slow.
Trafficking Routes into and within Australia 2026
TRAFFICKING ROUTES — Australia 2026
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PRIMARY SOURCE COUNTRIES FOR SEX TRAFFICKING (CDPP data)
Thailand ████████████████████████████████████████████████
Malaysia ████████████████████████████████████████
Philippines ████████████████████████████████
Korea ████████████████████████████
ENTRY METHOD (general)
International airports (primary)
Legitimate tourist, student and worker visas (deception-based entry)
Overstayed visas / undocumented stays (secondary)
EXIT TRAFFICKING — TREND
2023–24 ████████████████████ 35 reports
2024–25 ████████████████████████████████████████ 75 reports ← +114%
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| Route and Context Metric | Data |
|---|---|
| Primary status — Australia | Destination country for trafficking victims |
| Primary sex trafficking source countries | Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea |
| Entry method | Legitimate visa entry (tourist, student, worker) based on deception |
| Sectors commonly featuring exploitation | Sex industry (primary historically); agriculture, construction, hospitality (rising) |
| Exit trafficking reports (2024–25) | 75 (up from 35 — +114% year-on-year) |
| Exit trafficking — definition | Coercion, threats, or deception used to remove person from Australia |
| Exit trafficking share of identified offences (HTMS) | 32% of all identified offences — most common single category |
| Domestic trafficking in persons reports (2024–25) | 2 (first time non-zero) |
| Most common exploitation setting | Household/private setting — 57% of reports |
| Commercial sex industry reports | ~19% of reports |
| Role of Human Trafficking Visa Framework | Allows potential victims to legally remain in Australia during investigation |
| Human Trafficking Visa Framework — administrator | Department of Home Affairs |
| AFP investigation team locations | Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne |
| Exploitation in tourism sector | Australians engaging in child sexual exploitation abroad — flagged concern |
| Foreign diplomats | Court-ordered AUD $136,000 compensation in Fair Work Act case (2025) |
| Australia as transit country | Limited evidence; primarily destination country |
| Supply chain forced labour imports | Estimated AUD billions in goods at risk (Walk Free / Business and Human Rights Resource Centre) |
Source: CDPP — Human Trafficking and Slavery (updated 2025); AFP Media Release October 2025; AIC — Modern Slavery in Australia 2024–25 (December 2025); US Department of State — 2025 TIP Report: Australia; Walk Free — Australia Modern Slavery Reports 2025
The routing picture for human trafficking in Australia differs fundamentally from the UK and Canada in one critical respect: Australia has no land borders, making every instance of international trafficking a matter of arrival by air or sea with some form of documentation. The CDPP’s documentation of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Korea as primary source countries for sex trafficking victims reflects a pattern that has been consistent since Australia began systematically prosecuting trafficking offences in the early 2000s: victims arrive on legitimate visas, often recruited through deceptive job or modelling advertisements in their home countries, and only discover the true nature of their situation after arriving in Australia and having their documents taken. This entry-by-deception model is distinct from the physical abduction and border-crossing model more common in trafficking between adjacent countries, and it presents particular challenges for border detection, since at the point of arrival the victim appears to be a willing and legitimate visa holder.
The dramatic 114% increase in exit trafficking reports — from 35 to 75 in a single year — introduces a new complexity into Australia’s trafficking picture. Exit trafficking, where coercion or deception is used to forcibly or fraudulently remove a person from Australia (often to a country where they have fewer legal protections and where their exploitation can be more easily concealed), was barely a statistical feature of the AFP data three years ago. Its emergence as the largest single category of identified modern slavery offences in the HTMS NMDS 2024–25 — accounting for 32% of all identified offences — suggests either a genuine escalation of this crime type, improved identification capacity, or both. The AFP and Anti-Slavery Commissioner have indicated the increase reflects successful community outreach in diaspora communities, particularly those with connections to countries where forced marriage and exit trafficking intersect. The 2 domestic trafficking reports in 2024–25 — the first time this figure has been non-zero — also signals the early identification of a domestic element to Australia’s trafficking landscape that will require monitoring.
Law Enforcement, Prosecution and Prevention in Australia 2026
PROSECUTION AND SUPPORT SYSTEM — Australia 2024–25
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AFP reports accepted for investigation (2024–25) 132 (36% of 371)
Modern slavery offences identified 160
CDPP matters active (at 30 Jun 2025) 30 matters
Total defendants charged 41
Total offences charged 352
Defendants committed to trial or sentence 13 (40 charges)
Forced marriage convictions (2024) 2
Support program victims referred (2024) 108
FUNDING FRAMEWORK (2023–2027)
Support for Trafficked People Program AUD $24.3 million
NAP implementation (2020–2025) AUD $10.6 million
HECO presentations 2024–25 220+ presentations
HECO engagements 2024–25 700+ engagements
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| Law Enforcement and Prevention Metric | Data |
|---|---|
| AFP reports received (2024–25) | 420 — record high |
| Reports accepted for investigation (HTMS NMDS) | 132 (36% of 371) |
| Modern slavery offences identified | 160 |
| CDPP active matters (30 June 2025) | 30 matters |
| Defendants charged (total, at 30 June 2025) | 41 defendants; 352 offences |
| Defendants committed to trial or sentence | 13 defendants; 40 charges |
| Forced marriage convictions (2024) | 2 |
| STPP victims referred (2024) | 108 (up from 59 in 2023) |
| STPP funding (2023–2027) | AUD $24.3 million |
| National Action Plan (current) | 2020–2025 NAP (AUD $10.6 million) |
| HECO program established | 2023 |
| HECO presentations (2024–25) | Over 220 |
| HECO community engagements (2024–25) | Over 700 |
| Additional Referral Pathway (ARP) established | July 2024 |
| Forced Marriage Specialist Support Program launched | 2 January 2025 |
| Interdepartmental Committee (IDC) meetings (2024) | 6 meetings |
| Operational Working Group meetings (2024) | 6 meetings |
| Survivor advisory council | Active — providing lived experience input to government policy |
| AFP team locations | Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne (dedicated investigation units) |
| Modern Slavery Act 2018 | Covers supply chain reporting for large commercial entities |
Source: AIC — Modern Slavery in Australia 2024–25, Statistical Report No. 56 (December 2025); AFP Media Release October 2025; US Department of State — 2025 TIP Report: Australia; Attorney-General’s Department; CDPP Annual Report 2024–25
Australia’s prosecution pipeline is active but, measured against the scale of the problem, modest. 30 active CDPP matters involving 41 defendants charged with 352 offences as at 30 June 2025 does not represent a large-scale criminal accountability effort for a country with an estimated thousands of victims — but it does represent genuine, ongoing prosecution work in an area of law that is notoriously difficult to prove. The CDPP notes that prosecutors “rely heavily on victim-witness testimony” in trafficking cases, which places an enormous burden on survivors to re-engage with the criminal justice system while managing ongoing trauma, potential immigration concerns, and the practical and psychological demands of court proceedings. The diplomat case — in which the Federal Court ordered a foreign diplomat to pay AUD $136,000 in compensation under the Fair Work Act to a labour trafficking victim exploited in 2015 — received particular attention in 2025 as both a signal of accountability and a reminder that trafficking occurs across every level of Australian society, including in the households of foreign officials with diplomatic status.
The HECO (Human Exploitation Community Officer) program, launched in 2023, has become a defining feature of Australia’s prevention strategy. With more than 220 presentations and 700 engagements in 2024–25 — covering human trafficking indicators, online child sexual exploitation, and where to seek help — the HECO model represents an investment in community-level identification that complement both law enforcement investigation and the formal referral pathways into the support system. Its stated success in driving the increase in forced marriage and exit trafficking reports is the clearest evidence Australia has that prevention outreach translates into increased victim identification. The Modern Slavery Act 2018 — which requires large commercial entities to report annually on the steps they are taking to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains — adds a corporate accountability dimension to Australia’s response that, while criticized by experts as insufficiently mandatory, establishes a framework that the Anti-Slavery Commissioner is actively pushing to strengthen. The next National Action Plan — to replace the current 2020–2025 NAP — will be the test of whether the significant institutional progress of the past five years translates into genuine reductions in the exploitation that those 420 reports in 2024–25 represent.
Disclaimer: The data research report we present here is based on information found from various sources. We are not liable for any financial loss, errors, or damages of any kind that may result from the use of the information herein. We acknowledge that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything that has been represented.
