Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 · Updated to 30 Sep 2025 · Part III
19. Recruiting persons
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Any person who knowingly recruits, or agrees to recruit, another person to participate in the commission of an act of trafficking in persons, commits an offence and shall, on conviction be punished, with imprisonment for a term not exceeding *fifteen years, and shall also be liable to fine.
trafficking in persons
“trafficking in persons” means all actions of recruiting, conveying, transferring, acquiring, maintaining, harbouring, providing or receiving, a person, for the purpose of exploitation, by the following means: (a) threat or use of force or other forms of coercion; (b) abduction; (c) fraud; (d) deception; (e) abuse of power; (f) abuse of the position of vulnerability of a person to an act of trafficking in persons; or (g) the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over the trafficked person;
*NOTE—Previously “ten years”–see section 8 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Amendment) Act 2022 [Act A1644] w.e.f. 22 February 2022.
smuggling of migrants
“smuggling of migrants” means— (a) arranging, facilitating or organizing, directly or indirectly, a person’s unlawful entry into or through, or unlawful exit from, any country of which the person is not a citizen or permanent resident either knowing or having reason to believe that the person’s entry or exit is unlawful; and (b) recruiting, conveying, transferring, concealing, harbouring or providing any other assistance or service for the purpose of carrying out the acts referred to in paragraph (a);
Terms defined in s 2
smuggling of migrants
Defined · s 2“smuggling of migrants” means— (a) arranging, facilitating or organizing, directly or indirectly, a person’s unlawful entry into or through, or unlawful exit from, any country of which the person is not a citizen or permanent resident either knowing or having reason to believe that the person’s entry or exit is unlawful; and (b) recruiting, conveying, transferring, concealing, harbouring or providing any other assistance or service for the purpose of carrying out the acts referred to in paragraph (a);
trafficking in persons
Defined · s 2“trafficking in persons” means all actions of recruiting, conveying, transferring, acquiring, maintaining, harbouring, providing or receiving, a person, for the purpose of exploitation, by the following means: (a) threat or use of force or other forms of coercion; (b) abduction; (c) fraud; (d) deception; (e) abuse of power; (f) abuse of the position of vulnerability of a person to an act of trafficking in persons; or (g) the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over the trafficked person;
Part IV
Enforcement
Part V
Part VI