Law to legalise sex work in South Australia debated in Parliament

LAWS to decriminalise sex work should be referred to a parliamentary committee for further investigation, a Liberal MP says.

UPPER House MPs have voted to refer laws to decriminalise sex work to a parliamentary committee for further investigation.

MPs debated the Statutes Amendment (Decriminalisation of Sex Work) Bill 2015 in State Parliament’s Upper House on Wednesday night.

It was introduced by Liberal MP Michelle Lensink.

The proposed Bill would decriminalise all forms of sex work, including at home, in brothels, through escort services and street work.

Upper House MPs voted to consider the Bill in further detail and supported a move by Liberal MP Stephen Wade for it be referred to a new select committee.

“I think there are a number of issues we do need to examine in more detail,” Ms Lensink said.

“I do not think the sky will fall in if this (Bill) is passed in (an) amended form.”

During debate, Labor’s Status of Women Minister Gail Gago, who supports the Bill, said sending it to a committee was “a complete waste of time”.

Ms Gago said the current laws meant “we are simply wasting police resources on what is really a transaction between consenting adults”.

However, other MPs were keen to further examine the issue.

Former Labor MP, now independent, Bernard Finnigan has rarely spoken in Parliament since being charged with child pornography offences in April 2011but he made a contribution to the debate.

Mr Finnigan supported referring the Bill to a committee but raised concerns about whether the proposed legislation would adequately protect sex workers.

“We have been presented with this notion, again and again, that this is just about consenting adults ... freely choosing to enter into an industry that ought to be like anything else,” he said.

“(But) are we seriously suggesting that there are dozens or hundreds of women in the Eastern suburbs considering trading in the Range Rover and giving up their career as a surgeon or a barrister to become a prostitute?

“Let us not accept the myth that is so often put about that prostitutes are all medicine students paying their way through uni.

“We know that it is women and men from lower socio-economic groups who have often been victims of violence or abused in the past and who have lacked other opportunities or education in many instances.”

Labor backbencher Tung Ngo said he did not oppose prostitution but supported referring the Bill to a committee.

His colleague John Gazzola supported the Bill, saying he had heard of “many examples of harassment, discrimination and abuse of sex workers”.

Liberal backbencher Terry Stephens opposed the Bill, citing “social and moral implications of legitimising such a vocation for the sons and daughters of South Australia”.

Family First MP Robert Brokenshire, who did not support the Bill, said he had received “hundreds” of items of correspondence from voters arguing against it.

“I’ve only had three letters or emails of support for this particular Bill,” he said.

Mr Brokenshire said decriminalising prostitution would send the message to young people: “Here’s a legal opportunity for you to potentially go and, as I see it, ruin your life”.

Liberal MP Rob Lucas raised concerns about an aspect of the Bill which would wipe any prostitution offences from the criminal records of people who had worked in the sex industry.

“That means that those people can present themselves for employment at a school, at a childcare centre ... and validly present ... that they have no record in relation to either working in the prostitution industry ... or living off the proceeds of prostitution,” Mr Lucas said.

“Given the serious nature of child protection controversies, discussions and debates over the last two or three years in South Australia ... (if) we are going to accept people with a particular background being able to work with children ... and say ‘That is fine, there is no problem in relation to child protection issues’ then in my humble view there will be a lot of people in the community ... that would say ‘Well, I don’t like that ... I’ve got some concerns about that’.”

Greens MP Tammy Franks noted that there had not been reform of sex work laws for decades “to our shame, because we have seen this always as too difficult and there have been too many options”.

Ms Franks said the Bill had the support of groups representing the estimated 2000 sex workers in SA.

She also moved to dispel some concerns raised by MPs and members of the public.

“I point out that sex in a public place will still remain illegal,” Ms Franks said.

“Sex with a child who is not consenting or who purports to be a sex worker will still remain illegal.

“Being a public nuisance, loitering ... trafficking and sexual servitude will still remain illegal.”

Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent argued against concerns that passing the proposed laws would lead to a proliferation in sex work.

“Sex work has existed for as long as commerce has,” Ms Vincent said.

“To somehow assert that decriminalising it now in 2015 will instantly result in an amoral society and the collapse of the institution of marriage, amongst other things, is, I believe, inaccurate.”