Fears Hanson Road proposal will push sex street workers into residential streets of Croydon
A notorious SA road long drenched in sex and drugs could soon spill its chaos into suburbia, with a new exclusion zone proposal sparking fears of shifting the problem, not solving it.
SA News
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A Labor MP is lobbying for an exclusion zone around Hanson Rd in Adelaide’s northwest to deter street walkers, but critics say it would only further push the trade into surrounding residential streets.
Under the plan pushed by upper house MP Tung Ngo, if sex work was to be decriminalised in South Australia, sex workers would not be allowed to work within 200m of the unofficial red-light strip in Woodville Gardens and Woodville North – much of which is in Premier Peter Malinauskas’s electorate of Croydon.
It comes as Greens MP Tammy Franks has once again introduced legislation to decriminalise sex work.
Mr Ngo and parts of the Vietnamese community are upset that the area, otherwise known for its Vietnamese restaurants, continues to endure a negative perception.
However, the effect of such an exclusion zone remains unclear, as a Sunday Mail investigation found the area’s sex workers have already moved off Hanson Rd and east into dimly-lit Woodville Gardens’ suburban side streets around Sixth Ave.
The number of sex workers has dramatically reduced in recent years, with those remaining more likely to be experiencing poverty, homeless and drug problems. The trade has moved primarily east to near the otherwise family-friendly public velodrome at the end of Sixth Ave.
The investigation has revealed several factors for the shift, including policing.
While there were just eight sex work-related charges in 2023-23 across the state, down from 211 in 2017-18, a source from the area’s business community said police were moving on sex workers standing near businesses on Hanson Rd.
Ms Franks said it was important street sex workers were kept safe from violence.
She said the Victorian model which limits street sex work to certain hours and prevents sex workers from working outside schools, churches and childcare centres was “an example of a great compromise”.
A spokesman for the state government said it had recently funded more mental health beds, public homes and rehab services, plus additional resources for extra police.
It is understood Labor has not yet decided what stance to take on the renewed decriminalisation push, including any possible exclusion zone.
In a statement, SA Police said the emphasis was on “protecting sex workers from harm and abuse, exploitation, human trafficking or sexual servitude, and to ensure minors are not involved.”
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Originally published as Fears Hanson Road proposal will push sex street workers into residential streets of Croydon
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