Tasmania is a small island state with a population less than half a million people.

The Tamanian Labor Governments' anti-sex work laws will have a huge impact on the small Tasmanian sex work community. There are very few brothels in Tasmania (less than 50) and some recently refurbished, anticipating positive outcomes from the law reforms. Now that the laws are in total opposition to their operation, sex workers, brothel owners and operators face a bleak future of either leaving the state or facing extreme police and community harassment. Individual private workers will be subject to local council scrutiny.

The New Tasmanian Laws, how will they work?

Sex Workers

• Allows one or two sex workers to work privately if 'neither of whom employs or manages the other'"
• Assisting another person with answering the phone, paying bills, tax advice or accounts could mean it is considered a brothel (ie illegal).
• Local Councils will still have a say in how this works and where. Precedence in Australian and New Zealand shows that sex workers may be excluded from residential areas, kept away from main streets that include schools and forced into industrial areas.
• Police will have new and excessive powers including access to bank account information on those suspected of operating a brothel or organising the workplace where two people work.
• Sections of the Act remove natural justice and reverse the onus of proof (so people are not innocent until proven guilty)
• protects a prosecution witnesses identity and evidence - (allowing for people to dob in others and then not be identified) For these offences the person charged is not able to find out what evidence the police have been given - so unable to represent themselves fairly.
• The right to remain silent has been removed.
• All street based sex work is criminalised.
• It does however, reverse old Living Off The Earning clauses from the Tasmanian Criminal Code

Brothels:

• All brothel owners and operators will be totally criminalised, with huge fines and jail sentences for those who do not comply. - Entry without a warrant in some circumstances.

Clients:

• It will be illegal for a client to "knowingly" visit a "Commercial Sexual Services Business" (nb if two workers are working together, but one organises the other will be illegal)

The law will not become effective immediately, it will take 6 months to be proclaimed by the Governor

Scarlet Alliance, Tasmanian sex workers and brothel owners briefed members of the upper house early in the week of the vote. Before the briefing the upper house members discussed the new Bill for hours. What was missing from their discussion was any interest in the well being of sex workers or any concerns that sex workers may have. What was represented in their discussion was that they had bought the stereotypes - Clients are the bad guys only second to the ugly pimping thugs who run brothels and that sex workers are unfortunate damaged mindless individuals who are exploited.

This is devastating for all sex workers but more so for TasPros and others that have consistently spoken to media, lobbied and consulted with Judy Jackson (the Attorney General), her staff and many many others.

The final version of the Act - after passing through the lower house will be on the Tasmaian Parliament website next week. We will provide a copy on this page as soon as it becomes available to Scarlet Alliance.

Who were the players?

See below for the friends and foes of Tasmanian Sex Workers

Catholic Women of Tasmania They lobbied hard for criminalisation of the sex industry, and sourced information from Linda Watson and Sheila Jeffreys to build their anti-sex worker platform. They also received a briefing from Project Respect which included unreferenced reports of the success of Swedens’ anti-sex work laws. (For a detailed survey of the harms that Swedens’ laws have caused against sex workers, see Petra Oestergen). Shirley Woods from Project Respect told the Tasmanian Catholic Womens League that removing criminal barriers against sex workers "led to a rise in the illegal sex trade and encouraged the slavery of Asian and other women in the state." see the Tasmanian Catholic Womens League arguments.

Linda Watson Ex-brothel madam, and now spends her time kissing the pope and getting funding from the Catholic Church to denounce sex work. "I was so nervous that when I went to kiss his ring I couldn't find it so I kissed his hand instead." (quote from News Ltd article 19/9/04). She has promoted the unfounded statistic that 90% of sex workers are drug addicts. She also publicly stated at to a meeting of Joondalup City Council in 2003 that sex workers don't use condoms, which illicited a loud response from a former work colleague of hers who yelled out "That's a lie, we all use condoms and you did as well." The Street Based Sex Worker Outreach Project of Western Australia (SWOPWA) also loudly asked Linda if sex workers don't use condoms, where do the 80,000 condoms they distribute a year go? These arguments have not stopped Linda from repeating her unfounded remarks, including more recently to Upper House members of the Tasmanian parliament, as documented by the Festival of Light Magazine: "Linda is now playing a key role in exposing the abuse of women. She is also in demand as a speaker - she recently adressed meetings in Tasmania where MP's are considering yet another bill to legalise brothels. "I just tell MPs about the damage prostitution does to women," Linda says. "I ask them if they would want that kind of life for their own daughters or grand-daughters. I have a feeling the bill will not pass" Download the full article (PDF)

Judy Jackson All I can say is that it's illegal, that people who run these places are now on notice that they are illegal and they will be closed down and they will be severely punished. The penalties in this legislation are quite severe and so it'll be on their head if they continue this illegal practice. Read the full story

Sheila Jeffreys, "(Tasmania) can actually be on the side of progress and get involved in closing down this form of men's abusive behaviour." You briefed the Legislative Council yesterday. What sort of a reception did you get? "I got a very good reception actually. I think everybody is really concerned. I think a lot of people don't understand what's actually happening in the brothels. They don't know what's going on because it's often held out to be a perfectly fine industry, a job like any other." Read the full story.

Scarlet Alliance, the Australian Sex Worker Association

Scarlet Alliance originally wrote a submission to the Attorney General, Judy Jackson on early proposed changes to the Tasmanian Sex Industry Regulation Bill 2004 Download PDF version As well as arguing for the recognition of industrial and workplace rights for sex workers, the submission also asks that the Tasmanian Government move toward funding services to sex workers in Tasmania. Tasmania is the only Australian state or territory without a funded sex worker organisation and as such no dedicated HIV/AIDS or STI education to workers in sex industry. Now that the entire industry is going to be effectively criminalised, the need for a dedicated sex worker organisation is even greater.

Tasmanian AIDS and Hepatitis Council

The proposed blanket banning of brothels will reduce our capacity to effectively work with sex workers and punters in relation to safe sex and injecting drug use. This latest backflip reeks of moral judgements which can only lead to increased risks for sex workers. All it will do is force brothels further underground, making everyone's job a lot harder. Link to the full media release

Tasmanian Greens and MLA Nick McKim

Attorney-General Judy Jackson's about face on Tasmania's sex industry could be worse than previously thought with increased powers apparently given to police in relation to listening devices and compelling witnesses to give evidence. Police were already given too many powers in the original Bill, and by the sounds of it the amendments will only make matters worse. Link to full Nick McKim Media Release

Updated 20th October 2005