Human Trafficking in Oceania

Walk Free's 2023 estimates put Australia and New Zealand at 1.6 people in modern slavery per 1,000 population, versus 10.3 in Papua New Guinea. Key risks include forced labour, forced marriage, domestic servitude and exploitation of temporary migrants.

UNODC's 2023 Pacific Islands regional report notes that trafficking remains under-identified across the Pacific, with recurring risks in fishing, logging, mining, agriculture, hospitality, and domestic work. Recent Australia, New Zealand, and PIDC updates point to stronger enforcement, labour mobility safeguards, and victim-reporting pathways.

Oceania Snapshot

Regional Profiles

Australia

Australia

Australia combines relatively low estimated prevalence with persistent risk in agriculture, hospitality, food processing, care, and other sectors reliant on temporary migrant labour. Recent policy focus has shifted toward stronger reporting protections, sponsor monitoring, and sanctions for employers who use visa status to facilitate exploitation.

Operation ODIN 2026
Melanesia

Melanesia

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Vanuatu face the region's heaviest mix of trafficking risk: exploitation in logging, mining, fishing, domestic work, and urban informal economies, together with weak detection systems and child-protection gaps. Remote worksites, labour recruitment, and low state presence continue to magnify vulnerability.

2025 PNG TIP
New Zealand, Polynesia and Micronesia

New Zealand, Polynesia & Micronesia

In New Zealand, recent cases continue to center on migrant worker exploitation in horticulture, hospitality, and labour-hire settings. Across Samoa, Tonga, and smaller Pacific states, trafficking responses are often institutionally thin, making border coordination, victim referral pathways, and labour mobility safeguards especially important.

2025 NZ Update

Resources

Further reading & recent updates

Australia · 2024–25 data

Modern slavery national minimum dataset

AIC report on government-recorded incidents, assistance and prosecution outcomes; published December 2025.

Australia · Support pathways

Support for Trafficked People Program

Official programme information for people experiencing trafficking, slavery and slavery-like practices.