Sex workers should be banned from Hanson Rd if it’s decriminalised: Labor MP

Sex workers would be banned from Adelaide’s best known prostitution strip if street walking was made legal, under a push by a Labor MP to protect its reputation.

• Teens targeted for sex on Hanson Rd
• 2017: Sex work decriminalisation Bill passes Upper House
• Police’s sex work crackdown
• Dames in Adelaide as Bill set for vote in June 2019

Sex workers would be banned from Adelaide’s best-known prostitution strip if street walking was made legal, under one MP’s plan to restore the road’s reputation.

Labor MP Tung Ngo says decriminalising prostitution would risk attracting more sex workers to Hanson Rd, in Adelaide’s northwest, so he wants the road to become a prostitution-free zone.

Prostitutes would also be banned within 200m of Hanson Rd, under Mr Ngo’s suggested amendments to Greens MP Tammy Franks’ sex work decriminalisation Bill.

In a letter to local councils, Mr Ngo, pictured, said he wanted Hanson Rd to be exempted to “prevent any potential surge in street prostitution and a continuing negative perception” about the area.

Under Mr Ngo’s plan, street prostitution would be allowed in all other parts of South Australia.

MP Tung Ngo: “Unfortunately, Hanson Rd has been a hotspot for this activity for many decades and I am concerned if the Bill is passed unamended, it would exacerbate the issue on Hanson Rd further.”

“As a long-term resident and previous (Port Adelaide Enfield) councillor … I am aware of the negative perception that our community has lived with regarding street prostitution on Hanson Rd,” Mr Ngo’s letter said.

“Unfortunately, Hanson Rd has been a hotspot for this activity for many decades and I am concerned if the Bill is passed unamended, it would exacerbate the issue on Hanson Rd further.”

The road runs north from Woodville Gardens to Mansfield Park.

The Advertiser revealed in 2011 girls as young as 14 were being targeted on Hanson Rd by men looking for sex, sparking safety fears.

Port Adelaide Enfield Council has long opposed the sex work decriminalisation Bill because of concerns it would force councils to regulate prostitution.

Ms Franks’ Bill to decriminalise sex work in South Australia is set to be voted on by the Upper House in June.

Her Bill is identical to legislation proposed by Liberal MP Michelle Lensink, which passed the Upper House 13 votes to eight in 2017.

The Lower House did not vote on the legislation before the 2018 state election, meaning it needed to be reintroduced.

Ms Franks said fewer than 20 of the 2000 sex workers who worked in SA were based on the streets, and they would be less likely to do so if sex work was decriminalised.

“If people are being a public nuisance on Hanson Rd then by all means use one of the raft of laws that apply to nuisance, such as loitering or indecent behaviour, but the application of that law should apply equally to all people – not just sex workers,” she said.

Port Adelaide Enfield Council has long opposed the sex work decriminalisation Bill because of concerns it would force councils to regulate prostitution.