Author Description

Human trafficking is an issue that affects Australia. Yet despite the attention which trafficking has received at the national and international level since the UN General Assembly adopted the convention on transnational crime and its associate protocol on trafficking in persons, there are still no reliable data on the issues. While there have been several large-scale efforts to estimate and document human trafficking across the world, the estimates found in these reports vary over time and across regions, primarily because human trafficking is an extremely difficult activity to investigate. There are also differences in focus and in methodologies. As the evidence base is shaky and easy to challenge, it is important to consider how knowledge on this issue can be improved, in order to properly inform efforts to prevent and reduce trafficking. This paper summarises current evidence on trafficking to Australia and within the wider region, and highlights constraints that exist when endeavouring to interpret what this evidence tells us about the problem. It concludes with recommendations for further investment into research and monitoring.