In reality, however, investigation and criminal prosecution took precedence over the other pillars. The Government’s primary focus was on achieving successful prosecutions, and to that end, it had introduced the Criminal Code Amendment (Trafficking in Persons Offences) Act 2005. By expanding the range and scope of trafficking‐related offences in the Criminal Code, the Act fulfilled Australia’s legislative obligations under the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (which Australia ratified in September 2005). This was, of course, a very positive step forward because it enabled the effective prosecution of traffickers. However, the Act could only do so much–it dealt with trafficking within a criminal justice framework, which meant that the focus was on investigating and prosecuting the perpetrator, rather than on the needs of the victim. Under the Government’s Action Plan, prevention and victim support was secondary to the prosecution process. This was particularly evident in the trafficking visa framework, where the provision of victim support was made contingent on the victim’s ability to assist a criminal investigation. In short, the Government’s Action Plan characterised trafficking as a law enforcement problem, failing to recognise that it is fundamentally a human rights violation. In 2009 the victim support program in the Action Plan was revitalised with greater recognition of human rights, particularly in the area of visa and victim support. Since 2004, the Australian Government has provided $AUD58.3 million to anti‐trafficking initiatives in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Ⅳ. Further developments in Australia The Anti‐Slavery Project, along with many of its campaign partners, has always maintained that it is the trafficked person, not the perpetrator, who should be at the centre of strategies to eliminate trafficking. This conceptualisation of the primacy of the victim is consistent with the United Nations Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking and is why we advocate for responses to trafficking to be situated within a human rights framework. Through the ongoing, collaborative efforts of many Australian NGOs, we have taken our advocacy for victim‐centred strategies to a number of forums, both international and domestic. In 2006, the Anti‐Slavery Project was the primary author of the Australian NGO Shadow Report on Trafficked Women submitted to the 34th session of the Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Report contained recommendations for reforms addressing the identification, investigation and prosecution of trafficking offences, victim support, repatriation and Human rights protections and victim support for trafficked women in Australia ❙ 71