NT Police under fire after rejecting OnlyFans star, sex worker Lisa Lewis’ application to join the force

NT Police initially accepted the OnlyFans star’s application on July 17 after she gained notoriety for streaking in a bikini at a rugby international in 2006.

Only Fans star and sex worker Lisa Lewis has accused NT Police of discrimination after it rescinded a job offer on the basis of her ‘unique profession’.

A Darwin sex worker and OnlyFans star has taken NT Police to the Anti-Discrimination Commission after the force knocked back her application to join its ranks, the Australian has reported.

Lisa Lewis lodged the complaint in what is being touted as a landmark test case for new laws banning discrimination based on employment or sole-trading in the sex work industry.

Documents seen by the Australian show NT Police initially accepted the New Zealander’s application on July 17 — after she gained notoriety in her home country for streaking in a bikini at an All Blacks game in 2006 and for several tilts at city mayoral races.

The national broadsheet reported Ms Lewis was inspired to move to Darwin after seeing a television interview in May with acting NT police commissioner Michael Murphy, who appealed for new recruits to help deal with the Alice Springs crime crisis.

“We’re recruiting really aggressively,” Mr Murphy said at the time.

“Anyone who wants to come and join us, please come and put an application in online.”

At the request of the police recruiters, Ms Lewis provided her fingerprints, identification documents, her driving record, medical records, details of any “declarable associates” and her criminal history.

Sex work is legal in both New Zealand and the NT and Ms Lewis said her only criminal history was old and minor, including a public nuisance charge stemming from the 2006 rugby pitch invasion.

NT Police’s recruit information booklet states that “simple offences”, such as common assault, are not reason for exclusion from the recruitment process if they occurred more than 10 years ago.

Lisa Lewis says she always wanted to get into law enforcement ‘to assist in the prosecution of perpetrators of crime or absolve an innocent person from suspicion’.

Ms Lewis told the Australian after she supplied her details, she received a call from a senior constable who said due to her “unique profession” her application would need to go before the organisation’s integrity panel.

He asked whether Ms Lewis was currently employed as a sex worker and she confirmed she was before drafting a document to the integrity panel to give more information about her work history.

She stated she was still in the adult industry “because I need money to live and survive” and that she would stop working immediately should she be recruited to the police force.

Professional Standards Command acting Commander Brendan Muldoon then wrote to Ms Lewis on July 27, rejecting her application and banning her from reapplying for five years.

“As a result of your declared history, the panel has determined that your application is unsuccessful,” Commander Muldoon wrote.

The Australian reported Ms Lewis then asked for her application to be reassessed and Assistant Commissioner Bruce Porter responded that he was satisfied the process was in accordance with NT Police’s internal policies.

“All offers of employment are at the discretion of the Commissioner and are based on the suitability of a candidate,” he said.

Only Fans star says NT Police has ‘no right to discriminate under moral principles’.

Ms Lewis told the newspaper she believed she had been discriminated against because of her work and the police appeared to have a moral objection.

“I’ve always been a loud and proud sex worker,” she said.

“It’s a legal job, I pay more tax than most New Zealanders, I’ve only just moved here and I don’t have anything to be embarrassed about.”

“If it is a legal job in the NT, the NT police have no right to discriminate under moral principles. We’re law-abiding workers, just like any other employment.”

“I just want to ensure the NT police are held accountable for their actions … if they have a history of rejecting sex workers, maybe they should think twice about it.”

Ms Lewis said she believed her work experience would be a benefit to the police, because she was used to dealing with people from all different walks of life in a non-judgmental way.

In a statement to the Australian, NT Police refused to comment, saying the force did not “disclose information in regards to recruit applications”.