Women are somehow being trafficked into Australia and then forced into a life of slavery under the partner migration program, according to recent report by the Australian Institute of Criminology (ACI).

The success of a partner visa application hinges on the couple establishing convincing evidence of a ‘genuine and continuing relationship’ between the applicant and the Australian sponsor. In the end, the decision depends on what catches the eye of the beholder’s scrutiny. If the Case Officer is convinced on the face of the evidence provided, then there will likely be a decision to grant the visa without the need to interview the applicants. If they’re not convinced, then the applicants are interviewed and asked a set of questions, which are widely touted around on various internet forums and websites.

In recent years DIBP has reported that it has increased its scrutiny in partner visa applications and have cancelled over 1000 temporary and permanent visas on grounds of bogus claims. There are currently close to 60,000 partner visa applications in the pipeline.

Despite the strict process, several human traffickers have however managed to establish to DIBP the existence of a ‘genuine relationship’ in their ‘partner visa applications’ - successfully dealing with DIBPs scrutiny.

According to the report by the Institute of Criminology, the Salvation Army has helped about 40 women in the past year, who were victims of human trafficking and slavery in Australia. The organisation runs a safe house for these victims, the only one of its kind in Australia.

In its report, which was featured on the ABC, the ACI detailed the plight of eight such women in Canberra and Sydney who have come to Australia with the promise of a happy marriage, but have ended up being exploited by their partners. The women were all aged between 18 and 49 and came from various countries, including Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

The Institute of Criminology report recommends cases like these be treated as human trafficking and slavery offences, which attract a far greater penalty than domestic violence crimes. It recommends changes in the way the Immigration Department handles visa applications and suggests that women be interviewed by the Immigration Department separately from their spouse when they are going through the application process.

This however is already quite often done by DIBP with partner visa cases where there is some doubt. Case officers have a list of questions to pick and choose in order to probe the applicant about the relationship. Somehow in these cases, the traffickers had all the right answers for the wrong reasons. Perhaps the key may be to have more experienced case officers overseeing applications deemed risky.

Here is a link to the ACI report: http://aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/rpp/121-140/rpp124.html

The Cases as reported

Samantha Lyneham, a research analyst from the Institute of Criminology, interviewed the women and detailed some of her findings in the report.

"The most severe case that I came across was one woman who - if she didn't obey her husband - would be locked outside of the house, especially during winter, she'd be forced to sleep in a backyard under a tree in freezing cold condition. During the day, she'd be forced to take a pair of scissors and to cut the lawn throughout the day, until it was mowed. If she didn't do that she would be beaten," she said.

Another woman she interviewed is Kanya from India. At the age of 17, Kanya was set up in an arranged marriage with a family friend living in Australia. She first met her husband in India when she turned 18, married him three days later and came to Australia. Once she arrived here, she was picked up by her husband and her husband's girlfriend," said Ms Lyneham.

"She was taken to the family home where there were 16 members living in that house and she was expected to be their slave. She cooked for them, cleaned for them, had to take care of a number of small children, as well as a number of elderly parents. The relationship with her husband was fake and she was put into slavery like conditions which she was in for a number of months before she could escape."