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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-09-04 Daily Xml
Contents
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Motions

Prostitution

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (16:55): I move:

That this council respectfully requests the Attorney-General to task the South Australian Law Reform Institute (SALRI) with reporting on—

1. The impact of the ongoing criminalisation of prostitution; and

2. The legislative options for the decriminalisation of adult, consensual sex work in South Australia.

This motion is very simple but addresses a very complex issue that has thwarted the ability of this parliament to legislate for reform. It is not, of course, the first time I have raised the issue of decriminalisation of sex work in this place. I am heartened, however, by the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence in its report recently released. That report, 'With Courage: South Australia's vision beyond violence', contains 136 recommendations.

That commissioner listened deeply to thousands of people. That commissioner also listened to sex workers in South Australia, and it makes a nice change to be listened to, I am sure, for many of them. In that report, at page 644, in chapter 8, there is a section entitled Sex Workers which reads:

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 majority support in the South Australian Parliament despite the introduction of multiple Bills over the years to do so.

The commissioner goes on to write:

The commission encourages the South Australian government and South Australian Parliament to continue to work on this issue. In the meantime, the myths and misconceptions regarding sex work and domestic, family and sexual violence should be included in the work called for in Chapters 4 and 6. In undertaking this work, peak bodies such as SIN should be consulted to ensure that the stigma and misconceptions currently associated with sex work are appropriately addressed.

The commissioner raises a really important issue. In our state we have continued to criminalise particularly women engaged in adult consensual commercial sex, which most of the other jurisdictions in this country do not do. It is little wonder, then, that there is under-reporting by those sex workers of crimes against them because they themselves are criminalised. If we are to be serious about embracing and changing the way our society works and ensuring that we do remove violence from the lives particularly of women then we must look at options for the decriminalisation of sex work.

SALRI has been charged with those difficult, vexed issues before and has done an admirable job. We see time and time again now SALRI providing reports that ensure that this parliament is able to legislate difficult, complex matters with appropriate levels of consultation, advice and direction. It seems almost too simple an option to put forward.

It is an option that has worked, for example, in Queensland. In that state they have decriminalised sex work and they did so with their version of SALRI, their Law Reform Commission, being charged by a previous government with taking on the task that I would hope the Attorney-General might task our SALRI with, and that I call for today, that is, to look at options for legislation around the decriminalisation of adult consensual sex work. This is not only to remove violence from people's lives but to ensure that they have rights as workers, as human beings, and to ensure that we are compliant with our human rights obligations.

Just in closing, I point members to the Amnesty International policy on state obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of sex workers. It is a document dated 26 May 2016, so it has been the Amnesty International policy and position for quite a while now. I point members to pages 22, 24 and 26 in particular, which go to Amnesty International observations on physical and sexual violence, protections from exploitation, and the regulation of sex work.

In that, Amnesty notes that in many countries sex workers face high levels of violence at the hands of both state and non-state actors, and that this violence is often a manifestation of the stigma and discrimination directed towards sex workers, and is exacerbated by their criminalised status. Violence faced by sex workers is often gender-based and/or influenced by other forms of discrimination. Further, laws that criminalise the buying of sex or general organisational aspects of sex work, such as laws regarding brothel keeping or solicitation, often force sex workers to work in ways that compromise their safety. Bans on buying sex criminalise the transaction between the sex worker and the client.

While these laws are often intended to shift police focus and therefore blame from the sex worker to the client, in practice they can lead to sex workers having to take risks to protect their clients from detection by law enforcement, such as visiting locations determined only by their clients. Laws prohibiting organisational aspects of sex work often ban sex workers from working together, renting secure premises or hiring security or other support staff, meaning that they face prosecution and other penalties if they try to operate in safety.

The royal commission urged us to look at these issues with courage. It will take a parliament with courage to look at the decriminalisation of sex work in this state, and so far we have not had such a parliament. We have come close many times, but we still have too far to go. The work of SALRI would equip future members of parliament, and some of those continuing on, with the tools that they need to finally get the job done, so that these people can do their job in safety and with respect, and with far less stigma than we have apportioned them.

If they were in Victoria, if they were in New South Wales, if they were in the Northern Territory or if they were in Queensland they would have a decriminalised system—and that is not a deregulated system, it is simply removing the criminal laws that apply only to them. With those changes in those jurisdictions, we have seen workers live in greater safety, able to organise, able to unionise, and able to mobilise and speak for themselves. We have not listened to sex workers in this parliament very often; the commissioner did, and I hope that we heed her words. With that, I commend the motion.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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