Sex TraffickingArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking in Napranum, Far North Queensland (2003)

A sex trafficking case from 2003 in Napranum, Far North Queensland, Australia.

This page describes exploitation and abuse. Need to report something? How to report →

Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

Australian Police Department of Immigration and Citizenship The case was tried by the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2007. Appealed in 2008. Retried in February 2010 in the Cairns Supreme Court. Ms. Melita Kovacs (now divorced from Zoltan Kovacs) was found guilty of intentionally possessing a slave and intentionally exercising ownership over / using a slave. Mr. Zoltan Kovacs pleaded guilty to the same charges.

Response and intervention

The victim asked for help from Zoltan Kovac's daughter. Later the victim contacted the Department of Immigration & Citizenship to inquire about obtaining a new passport and DIAC then referred the matter to the police.

Nearby cases

All 21 in Australia →

Domestic Servitude2002

Weipa, Queensland, Australia, 2002

Australia AU

There was conviction of: Possessing a Slave Exercising ownership over a Slave Arranging a Marriage for Visa Purposes Rape and Sexual Assault (see www.law.uq.edu.au/humantrafficking)

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Forced Labor2024

Central Australia, Australia, 2024

Australia AU

Vanuatu workers employed under the PALM scheme on a sweet-potato farm were allegedly subjected to unlawful wage deductions. Between January and March 2022, 29 employees were fined $500 each for alleged breaches of an employer alcohol policy, totalling $14,500. Some workers were left with approximately $150 net pay for a week after deductions.

1 source

Forced Labor2011

Spring Hill, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 2011

Australia AU

The victim was asked by a school friend to move into her apartment with her boyfriend (the trafficker) after the victim had a fight with her family. When the victim moved in the couple forced the teenager into prostitution so they could pay their rent. She was told that if she didn’t do this she would be on the streets. Using a credit card the man put 2 advertisements in a Brisbane paper and then drove the girl to appointments of people who responded. In the span of the week she had 5 sexual encounters, one with a 25 yr old woman and the others with men aged between 40 and 60. She earned $4500 for the couple but received only a free room in the apartment and buckets of chicken nuggets.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016