Human trafficking alerts in Australia have reached an all-time high, with authorities especially concerned about exploding rates of forced removal and modern slavery.
New Australian Federal Police figures reveal there were 420 reports of human trafficking in the 2024-2025 financial year, a jump of 382 compared with the past 12 months.
Reports of exit trafficking – the use of coercion, threats or deception to force a person to leave Australia – spiked from 35 reports to 75.
Authorities also received a rise in alerts for sexual servitude slavery, forced marriage and modern slavery.
Fewer alerts were made for trafficking in persons, debt bondage, forced labour and deceptive recruiting.
There were no reports for organ trafficking or harbouring.
AFP Commander Helen Schneider said the overall jump in reports was “just the tip of the iceberg” as Australians become more attuned to the signs of human trafficking.
“What we see from these figures is a trending increase in forced marriage and exit trafficking reports. The increase in forced marriage reports may indicate our engagement and presentations to at-risk community groups are working, and people feel more comfortable reporting this activity,” she said.
“More than 90 per cent of exit trafficking victims are female, which tells us that women are more vulnerable to this type of exploitation, which occurs when coercion, threats or deception are used to exit, or attempt to exit, an individual from Australia.”
Schneider said human trafficking did not discriminate, and victims could come from any age, gender, culture, religion or socio-economic group.
“The indicators of human trafficking vary for each crime type, but general themes include individuals being subjected to violence or threats of violence, not having access to, or control of earnings or identity documents, being unable to communicate freely with others, and showing signs of fear or anxiety,” she said.
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