Supporting survivors of modern slavery through the criminal justice journey

Modern slavery - including human trafficking, forced labour and forced marriage - are abhorrent crimes which affect almost 50 million people globally.

Today I joined the Australian Institute of Criminology, Attorney-General’s Department, Australian Federal Police and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, civil society, frontline responders and policy makers who work with survivors of modern slavery in Australia for a conference on how to better support modern slavery survivors through criminal justice processes.

I thank and acknowledge the contribution of survivors of modern slavery who shared their insights. These insights were an invaluable addition to the conference.

Australia has strong criminal offences for modern slavery and the Albanese Government is committed to ensuring Australia’s laws are ready to respond to the changing ways criminals exploit and harm vulnerable people.

We continue to train our frontline responders to identify, disrupt, investigate and prosecute offenders.

Australian also has a dedicated Support for Trafficked Persons Program and Human Trafficking Visa Framework.

Supporting survivors through the criminal justice process - from detection and disruption to investigation of the crime and prosecution of the offender - is pivotal to combatting modern slavery.

Insights from this conference will assist us to further develop and implement a trauma-informed approach and strengthen our partnership with civil society organisations to support survivors.

Additional support

Help is available for any person experiencing, or at risk of, human trafficking or other forms of modern slavery. The Australian Federal Police can keep you safe, provide advice and refer you to support services. Call 131 237 (131 AFP). If you have immediate concerns for your safety or the safety of someone else, call Triple 0 (000).

If you suspect that another person is experiencing, or at risk of, human trafficking or modern slavery, call 131 AFP (237) or use the AFP’s confidential online form.

If you are in, or at risk of, forced marriage, visit www.mybluesky.org.au for support and free, confidential legal advice.

Recognise the indicators, know what to do

Learn more about the possible indicators of human trafficking or modern slavery on the AFP’s website.