More than 100 people had been summoned by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) over alleged sex slavery.

The ACC has told a parliamentary committee that 107 people have been summonsed and interviewed in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Kalgoorlie since 2003 when a special intelligence operation began. A further 50 informal interviews have been conducted.

About a third of the interviews have been done with prostitutes, who mostly came from South Korea, Thailand and China. Others have been conducted with owners of premises, associates, financiers and customers.

Organisers of sex trafficking are primarily from South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia or China, many of whom are based in Australia. Sydney remains the most significant entry point for trafficked women.

It has been estimated 300 women are brought into Australia each year and up to 1,000 women currently work as sex slaves. The evidence was provided by the ACC to the parliamentary joint committee on the ACC, which is reviewing the implementation of a 2004 report into sex trafficking.

Committee chair Santo Santoro (LP, Qld) told parliament, Australia had made significant progress in cracking down on sex trafficking since the start of a national action plan and passing of new laws in June 2005. But Senator Santoro said the problem remained significant.