Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Report

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:56): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question to the Attorney-General on the topic of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Report.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: At chapter 8 of the royal commissioner's report, it reads:

Sex workers.

The Commission heard from the Sex Industry Network Incorporated (SIN) that people who work in the sex industry, and who are experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence, often feel dehumanised and judged when seeking support. This is particularly problematic in jurisdictions such as South Australia where sex work is still criminalised.

The push to decriminalise sex work has a long history in South Australia, failing to achieve a majority support in the South Australian Parliament, despite the introduction of multiple Bills over the years to do so.

The Commission recognises that sex work has been decriminalised in other jurisdictions…and the resulting stigma that is attached to sex work, creates barriers to reporting violence in the sex industry.

The observation in chapter 8 is accompanied by the section where the commissioner urges further law reform in a number of areas.

I note that the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria and NSW have all moved to decriminalise sex workers in those jurisdictions, and it is a measure that removes not just stigma but violence in the lives of those workers. My questions to the Attorney-General are:

1. Is he aware of these concerns that criminalising people makes them more vulnerable to criminals and to violence?

2. What options will the Malinauskas government take to ensure that we provide not just a safe workplace but safer domestic lives for these South Australians?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:58): I thank the honourable member for her question and acknowledge the great deal of work she has done on this topic over many years. The area of the royal commissioner's report that the honourable member refers to is at page 644, and the honourable member somewhat modestly missed a part of what she read out that recognises the work that she herself has done and the legislation she has put forward. I might actually read that out, seeing that the honourable member somehow forgot to mention that part. The royal commission notes that:

The most recent Bill, the Statutes Amendment (Decriminalisation of Sex Work) Bill 2025, was introduced in the South Australian Parliament on 2 April 2025 by the Hon Tammy Franks…

It goes on to give a couple of quotes of the honourable member in relation to that particular bill. I think a great deal of satisfaction should be taken from the fact that the royal commission report specifically acknowledges the Hon. Tammy Franks' work in this area. Of course, the last quote that the honourable member read out is worth repeating. On page 644 of the royal commission report it states:

The Commission recognises that sex work has been decriminalised in other jurisdictions and that criminalisation, and the resulting stigma that is attached to sex work, creates barriers to reporting violence in the sex industry.

I think that is a very powerful statement that—if we are tackling violence and sexual violence, domestic violence and family violence—needs to be reported. If there are barriers to it being reported, that is something that needs to be looked at and deserves to be addressed. My views on these issues are very well known, and they are very similar to the Hon. Tammy Franks' views and the views of a number of others in this chamber who have voted previously when bills have come forward that have been conscience votes for the major parties.

I am sure that we will see further legislation, as we have seen some that touched on this area during this term of parliament, in the next term of parliament. I am hopeful that we will see reform in this area in the not-too-distant future. It's not just for the reasons, outlined in the royal commission's report, that create barriers to reporting, which of course then makes it much more difficult to address that sort of violence, but, as the honourable member mentioned briefly, it is about safety at work and the basic premise that you deserve to have a regulated work environment that provides a safe working environment.

This work occurs. It is going to occur. It always has and it always will. Not providing a safe work environment means that the usual protections that we have through our industrial system don't always apply in the same manner. Again, I thank the honourable member for the work that she has done, probably more so than the other members of this chamber, in attempts to reform this area. The honourable member should be proud that it has been specifically recognised in this report, and I am certain that, in the next parliament, it will be taken up by others as well.