This brief provides an overview of the trafficking of women and children into the Australian sex industry in the context of the global trade in people trafficking. It examines why there have been no prosecutions of traffickers under existing Commonwealth laws. It explains how Australia's emphasis on border control is working against the prosecution of traffickers and the human rights of trafficking victims and explains how existing Australian policy and law will need to change to meet the new internationally agreed standards to punish traffickers and support victims under the UN Trafficking Protocol.