reintegration programs, and prevention strategies. There was a particular focus on the visa
framework, the much needed development of community awareness raising strategies, and
the need for more research to better understand patterns of human trafficking and slavery,
the creation of a national roundtable, education of the legal profession and the importance
of amending the law to provide for victim impact statements at the time of sentencing for
federal crimes.
Two of recommendations for reform in particular are worth mentioning. The first relates
to the recommendation to create a national taskforce to coordinate responses to trafficking in
Australia, and the second called for a review of the trafficking visa framework to prioritise
the needs of people who have experienced trafficking above the needs of law enforcement.
Ⅴ. The National Roundtable on People Trafficking
The centrepiece of collaboration in Australia has been the National Roundtable on People
Trafficking, held for the first time in June 2008 and again in June in 2009. At the first
National Roundtable on People Trafficking, NGOs and the Australian Human Rights
Commission expressed concerns about the then trafficking visa framework and the need to
provide trafficked people with culturally appropriate information about their legal
entitlements and access to support services.
The National Roundtable also established a working group of NGOs and government
agencies to produce NGO Guidelines for Working with Trafficked People and the first multi
lingual fact sheets for trafficked people. The fact sheets for trafficked people were translated
into Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese. These guidelines were jointly launched
by Minister Bob Debus, the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Anti‐Slavery
Project in March 2009.
Ⅵ. Australian Human Rights Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission has had a leading role in the development of
effective anti‐trafficking strategies in Australia and the Commission has partnered with the
Anti‐Slavery Project to lend its support and advocacy. In particular, the current Sex
Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick and her predecessor before her did much
to raise the profile of the issue of trafficking and slavery. Commissioner Broderick also
chaired the Working Group which was established to develop national Guidelines for NGOs
working with trafficked persons.
72 ❙ Seoul International Conference Against Human Trafficking in Migrant Women