Australia’s largest airports are collaborating to raise awareness of human trafficking and exploitation, with Perth Airport joining Sydney Airport and Melbourne Airport in expanding the Can You See Me? awareness campaign nationwide.
Led by anti-human trafficking organization A21, the campaign urges travelers to recognize and report the signs of human trafficking and modern slavery. Digital screens and billboards across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth airports are displaying the campaign throughout November, featuring messages that remind travelers ‘If you suspect it, report it’. QR codes will link to information and videos showing how to identify potential trafficking situations.
The three airports cater for 77% of Australia’s total international passenger traffic. In November alone, more than 8,500,000 travelers are expected to pass through their terminals.
Reports of human trafficking to the Australian Federal Police have nearly doubled over the past five years, with 420 reports recorded in 2024–25, averaging one report per day, compared with 224 in 2020–21. Human trafficking in Australia takes many forms, including trafficking, forced marriage, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, debt bondage, forced labor, deceptive recruitment and organ trafficking. The Global Slavery Index estimates 41,000 people in Australia live under conditions of modern slavery.
A21 has rolled out this program in high-profile spaces worldwide from Times Square billboards, screens at Heathrow Airport, train stations in Thailand to inflatable screens in vulnerable Cambodian communities – reaching some 3.4 billion people globally.
“Airports are a key environment where traffickers seek to move victims across borders, so awareness campaigns in these locations can play a critical role in helping travelers and frontline airport staff recognize and report these crimes,” said the Australian Federal Police’s commander for human exploitation, Helen Schneider. “Any piece of information, however big or small, may help protect a person who is at risk of being exploited.”
In January, US non-profit BEST launched free human trafficking awareness training.
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