‘Failure’: Unions slam D’Ath for breaking sex work promise

Queensland sex workers fear the state government has abandoned its pledge to decriminalise their work, with Attorney-General breaking her promise to them.

Yvette D'Ath. Picture: Richard Walker

Queensland sex workers fear the state government has abandoned its pledge to decriminalise their work, with Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath breaking a promise to introduce new laws by the end of this year.

Advocates say the safety of workers remains at risk each day the government fails to deliver on the decriminalisation of all forms of sex work.

In July Ms D’Ath noted Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s commitment to “introducing legislation by the end of the year and that’s exactly what I’m going to be doing as the new Attorney-General”.

Parliament rose on Thursday for the final time in 2023 without the laws being introduced for consideration by a committee.

Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King accused the government of a “failure of leadership”.

“Sex workers had been expecting to see decriminalisation laws in the parliament before Christmas so they can be safe and protected and now nothing. They’re deeply disappointed,” she said.

“The government knows sex workers will remain targets for violence, assault and robbery and their lack of action shows they are knowingly abandoning them.”

The current legislation also affects strippers and entertainers with grey areas in liquor licencing laws that allowed strippers to be prosecuted.

“It’s unreal. We’re on the eve of 2024 and lap dancing is effectively criminal in Queensland,” Ms King said.

“It’s like an alternate universe we’re living in where strippers can be prosecuted for lap dancing and even accidental touching, reminiscent of the bad old Joh days.”

Ms D’Ath on Tuesday did not comment on the cause of the delay but said the government would decriminalise sex work.

“The government has introduced significant legislation in the past few weeks, with much more to come for 2024,” she said.

“The government remains committed to progressing the decriminalisation of sex work in Queensland and will do so in the new year.”

Sex workers Raven and Bandy. Photograph David Kelly.

The state government announced earlier this year it planned to decriminalise sex work and abolish outdated legislation that means workers outside brothel settings must work alone.

A landmark Queensland Law Reform Commission in March provided a blueprint for decriminalisation and made 47 sweeping recommendations that included removing advertising restrictions, abolishing police powers to undertake covert operations and treating the sector like any other business.

Raven, who works as a stripper and erotic model, said the government had already dropped the ball by not including strippers in their initial decriminalisation plans and left them vulnerable to covert police operations and assaults.

Independent sex worker Eva said she believed sex workers were easily overlooked by the government.

“This government’s been making a lot of changes to improve women’s safety in recent times, and I feel that sex workers are a part of that group and we’re just being left out of the changes,” she said.

Sex worker Stephanie said she cried when she realised the government had not followed through with its commitment.

“It’s been so long working under these laws, and with all the risks that come with that, and then to have a glimmer of hope from the government that it was all going to change and our lives were going to get so much better, and then to just be completely betrayed by them, it just feels like we’ve been stabbed in the back,” she said.

“The stakes are so high for sex workers every day that they don’t do it, our workplaces, which some of us that is our homes, and our safety strategies are criminalised.

“So we’re at risk of either, you know, violence or arrest and the Labor government understands that, that’s why they’ve taken this on … and so to just drop it, it just makes absolutely no sense.”