The US Department of State has finally released its long-delayed, legally required 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which assesses human trafficking conditions in more than 185 countries, including Australia.
Australia has retained its Tier 1 ranking in the Report, which found the government “fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking” but still faces critical gaps in protecting vulnerable groups and victims.
The report commended Canberra’s “serious and sustained efforts,” highlighting that in 2024 authorities initiated 200 investigations, prosecuted 66 alleged traffickers, and secured 60 convictions – a dramatic increase from the previous year.
“These efforts included establishing and implementing a pilot pathway to improve victims’ access to support services without law enforcement referral; identifying more trafficking victims; increasing trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions; prosecuting a senior government official for alleged complicity; and creating two visa pilot programs to support migrant worker workplace exploitation claims,” the TIP Report stated.
However, the report warned that Australia “did not adequately screen vulnerable groups, including domestic workers, international students, and migrant workers, for trafficking indicators” and continued to lack “suitable and accessible accommodations for trafficking victims.”
It also criticised Australia for failing to ban goods made with forced labour. “Although the government meets the minimum standards, it did not ban importation of goods made with forced labor,” the report said.
The US urged Australia to expand protection services such as housing, legal and medical assistance, and to “further decouple the provision of services to victims from participation in the criminal justice process.” It also recommended amending the criminal code so trafficking offences do not require proof of victim movement.
On the justice front, the report noted that while courts handed down sentences ranging from four to 23 years for some traffickers, “37 percent of traffickers” received suspended or short sentences of less than one year.
Victim support also remained uneven. In 2024, authorities identified 108 victims – up from 59 the previous year – but NGOs reported many survivors faced long delays in receiving help, with some falling into homelessness due to limited shelter options.
The TIP Report also flagged persistent risks in visa and labour schemes. Despite “persistent reports of sexual exploitation, forced labor, and multiple trafficking indicators” in the Working Holiday Visa and Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) schemes, authorities “did not report proactively screening PALM workers for trafficking indicators.”
While Australia has invested in prevention, including appointing its first federal Anti-Slavery Commissioner, civil society groups told the report there was still “a lack of adequate training on forced labor indicators” among frontline agencies and inspectors.
The US concluded by urging stronger enforcement, more victim-centred protections, and reforms to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act 2018, which currently does not impose penalties on companies for non-compliance.
“Trafficking in persons is a crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex,” the report reminded, stressing that Australia must continue to match its legislative ambitions with victim-focused action.
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