UQ’s Human Trafficking Working Group has launched a website providing background, case reports, publications and presentations on human trafficking in Australia.
The website forms part of a collaborative research project by The University of Queensland’s TC Beirne School of Law and The University of British Columbia Faculty of Law and Centre of International Relations on the phenomenon of trafficking persons, exploitation of foreign workers in the sex industry and other forms of forced labour in Australia and Canada.
The website provides an entry point for information on trafficking in persons to Australia and contains background documents, case reports, relevant legislation, as well as publications and presentations by the Working Group. Relevant statistics relating to trafficking prosecutions and victims of trafficking are also available.
A unique feature of the website is the first catalogue of human trafficking cases in Australia that have been prosecuted under federal or state laws. Each case report features a summary of the events, references to official reports, and relevant media coverage of each case. Included is a summary of the case, involving a Melbourne brothel owner, Ms Wei Tang, that was appealed to the High Court of Australia in August 2008, and a comprehensive summary of the case of Keith Dobie, a Gold Coast man who in November 2008 became the first person convicted under Australia’s federal trafficking offences.
The website will expand in the coming months, to include a ‘media watch’ site for following current news reports on human trafficking in Australia, analyses of prostitution laws in the Australian states and territories, and links to relevant domestic laws, international treaties, government agencies, and international organisations.