The NT laws putting Territory sex workers in danger
CONFUSION surrounding the Territory’s unique ‘over-regulation’ and its variable enforcement is a big issue for the sex workers who work here, say advocates
Northern Territory
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CONFUSION surrounding the Territory’s unique “over-regulation” and its variable enforcement is a big issue for the sex workers who work here, say advocates.
Australian Sex Workers Association Scarlet Alliance President Gala Vanting said no other independent contractor would be expected to completely alter every aspect of their business practice each time they crossed a state line.
“The laws in the NT often proscribe many of those practices, which means that screening measures, advertising strategies, and safety protocols that sex workers rely on are suddenly unavailable to sex workers, just for having crossed the NT border,” she said. “Sex workers who aren’t aware of the specificities of this complex law may not even find out that they’ve broken it until they are blindsided by police for employing a safety measure that they were able to use in the next state or territory.”
Ms Vanting said sex workers spent lots of time and care creating processes for their work that optimised their safety and labour conditions, because often the law failed to do that for them.
“Sex workers are the experts in what we need in order to be safe at work, and the NT government is failing to treat us as the authority on our own lives,” she said.
Scarlet Alliance and Sex Workers Outreach Project NT are calling for the full decriminalisation of sex work.
Ms Vanting said it was the only legislative framework that did not place barriers in the way of sex workers achieving optimal health outcomes, labour conditions, and workplace health and safety standards. “The NT is considering changes that will have a direct impact on the health and safety of sex workers,” she said.
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“This is the chance for the Northern Territory to make a major shift away from its failed policing and registration approach that has been harmful for sex workers, and instead prioritise the workplace health and safety outcomes decriminalised.”
Sex worker Cameron* has worked in a number of Australian jurisdictions, and is now based in NSW because that is the only place where sex work is decriminalised. “There is a huge difference for me between NSW and NT and the other states of Australia,” he said. “NSW is the only place where I know that police will help me rather than arrest me if I go to them for help,” he said.
“It is also the only place where I feel safe and supported by the government and services such as health and where I can access support in the same way that any worker can.”
Cameron said only when working in NSW could he be sure that approaching police would not “automatically” result in his own arrest.
“I constantly feel unsafe in the NT and never spend more than five consecutive days here sex working,” he said.
Cameron said decriminalising sex work would allow him to choose and control his own workspace and the manner in which he worked.
He said the move would also provide better protection
*Last name withheld for privacy reasons.
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