More Resources to Combat People Trafficking
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Media Release
8 May 2007
The Australian Government has again demonstrated its strong commitment to fighting people trafficking.
“The funding, as announced in the 2007-08 Budget, has renewed and strengthened the whole of government strategy to eradicate trafficking in persons by allocating a further $26.3 million over the next four years,” said Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator David Johnston.
“The increased funding will greatly assist the detection, investigation and prosecution of alleged people traffickers, while ensuring that victims of trafficking are cared for and supported.”
The trafficking and exploitation of human beings will not be tolerated in Australia and the Government continues to work hard to combat trafficking and care for victims. The measures already in place have resulted in successful prosecutions and provided significant support to trafficking victims.
The new funding builds on the success of the existing initiatives and will provide funding for the Australian Institute of Criminology to undertake research into regional trafficking trends.
The key measures in the Government’s Strategy for the next four years will consist of:
- funding for the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) for research into regional trafficking activities
- funding for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) for the establishment of two additional Senior Migration Compliance (Trafficking) positions in the Asia region
- funding for the Attorney-General's Department (AGD) to facilitate its ongoing role as the lead agency for the Government’s strategy including an information campaign
- increased funding for investigation activities by the Australian Federal Police (AFP)
- funding for prosecution activities by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP), and
- funding for the Office for Women (OFW) to extend the victim support program to victims who are returning to Australia to give evidence.
The funding allocation of an additional $9.1 million over four years will strengthen the AFP’s contribution to the whole-of-government strategy for tackling trafficking of people for sexual servitude and other serious crimes.
“The funding will be used to substantially boost the capacity of the AFP Transnational Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Team (TSETT) for assessing and investigating all forms of international trafficking offences, including child sex tourism”, said Senator David Johnston.
“The new funding will boost AFP resources for combating people trafficking to $16.3 million over four years.”
“This will provide significant additional investigations capacity, nationally and internationally, further enhancing AFP capabilities for responding to the growing problem of trafficking for labour exploitation,” Senator Johnston said.
The additional funding will also help Australian police target other crime types that are increasingly being linked to people trafficking, including immigration fraud, identity fraud, document fraud and money laundering.
Total funding of over $58 million since October 2003 demonstrates the Australian Government’s commitment to Australia’s legal and moral obligations to stamp out the loathsome crime of people trafficking.
Since 2004, the AFP has investigated 117 cases relating to allegations involving slavery, deceptive recruiting and sexual servitude, as well as more than 150 allegations of child sex tourism offences.
Media Contact: Robert Broadfield Minister’s Office (02) 6277 7260