• Talkin Turkey is viewable by all for a few weeks whilst we SEO the threads. You will not be able to comment unless you become a Talkin Turkey member xxx

AmyMonroe

Exclusive Private Escort
Foundation Member
Re: What are the current laws in SA

No....its all in the too hard basket...all the pollies state they agree in principal that the industry should be either decriminalised or legalised, but not in their backyard so to speak.

In the 7 yrs I have been working, its been before parliment about 3 or 4 times and the bills have always been defeated...so we are running under an archaiac act that is over 50 yrs old.

SA comes under the Summary Offence Act 1956. So technically pretty much SA is illegal. The grey area seems to be escorting (ie outcalls to homes or hotels). Having said that though, the police are very tolerant of the industry, and tend to police only links to organised crime, street work, underage workers, illegal immigrants, bikie connections, drugs, etc.

The best place for up to date info on the laws in any state is the Scarlett Alliance, which is the peak industry body and lobbies politicans and tries to get changes implimented.

http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/

cheers
Amy xxx
 
Last edited:
S

someguy

Re: What are the current laws in SA

I tend to think that the current situation in SA regarding the laws is probably as good as it will get due to the NIMBY groups opposed to it and the pollies not having the balls to legalise it as they are scared that they would get voted out of office at the next election. So any changes that were to happen would probably be for the worse in my opinion. Even though legalising the industry would allow the Government to exert some real control over it. Go figure...
 
V

Vanessa Mars

Sharing an uninformative letter from Mr Malinauskas MP Labour Party in response to an email I sent in relation to decriminalising sex work in SA.
 

Attachments

  • Leter Peter Malinauskas MP - Sex Work Decriminalisation Bill.pdf
    419.8 KB · Views: 10
V

Vanessa Mars

I am supporting those in SA, I am originally from NSW/ACT.

In relation to decriminalisation, I feel NSW is the #1 state for a sex worker with the ACT coming in at #2.

Yes the laws differ from state to state but as a sex worker myself, only ever working in NSW and ACT it is in my opinion from my experience that if you declare you are a sex worker those official government bodies are more likely to respect and trust you and therefore will work with you.
 

Candice Cruz

Diamond Member

Plumage

Diamond Member
What is the law regarding a client hosting a sex provider in his hotel room?
If you just arrange for an escort to meet you in your room for sex, you are fine (better than fine if she is good at her job!).
(The person running the hotel might not be fine if it happens a lot with their knowledge, but that's another matter.)
Laws vary from state to state, but clients are mostly not liable unless they are doing something in a public place (curb crawling, having sex).
For a breakdown of the laws in each state, you can go here:
and specifically for SA here:
 
Last edited:

Plumage

Diamond Member
The South Australian Law Society and the incomparable Nicola Spurrier are both pushing hard for decriminalisation in SA and in support of a bill before parliament.


It's a shame that horror stories and linking sex work to disease are still the only socially acceptable cards to play in this debate. Of course there are all sorts of down-sides to criminalisation. But what about the positive reasons for decriminalisation: the simple right to work for sex workers, and the right to sexual expression for clients?
 

HappyPirate

Head Veto.....
Staff member
Talking Turkey Moderator
Just refreshing this page, for visitors to S.A. in case you are not aware.
The interesting thing thou the law itself generated a whole new industry in S.A. "FIFO sex workers" as well an abundance of massage parlors.
I personally think that with today technology and been a Private Sex worker you can avoid a lot of legal issues if you are careful.
On the other hand, the girls themselves have now less security than in the past, ( Brothel ) unless she is very careful with her secuirty she may easliy become a victim, all this from our Laws.

The laws

The laws surrounding sex work in South Australia are contained in the Summary Offences Act (1953) and the Criminal Law Consolidation Act (1935-1976). Apart from some very minor changes, most of these laws have remained intact since they were first enacted, some more than 50 years ago. Several new laws were enacted in 2000 that deal with ‘ sex slavery ’, minors involved in commercial sexual services and the deceptive recruitment of staff to provide commercial sexual services.

The act of commercial sex itself is not illegal in South Australia but there are a raft of laws that pertain to commercial sex that occurs in a brothel effectively rendering brothel based sex work activities illicit. Traditionally brothels have made up a substantial proportion of sex industry businesses because brothels are the preferred mode of working and organising commercial sexual services. South Australian law, therefore, contains a range of offences that aim to suppress the sex work that occurs in brothels.

The offences

These offences range from the most commonly used offences against sex workers; Section 21: Link is not working, so has been taken down of the Summary Offences Act that effectively makes it illegal to be on a premises frequented by prostitutes without a reasonable excuse; Section 28 Link is not working, so has been taken down of the Summary Offences Act which is the main charge that has been used in relation to sex work itself and charges sex workers with ".....receive money paid in a brothel in respect of prostitution"; through to offences for "keeping" or managing or assisting to manage a brothel (Section 28 [1] [a],[2]), procuring a person to become a prostitute (The Summary Offences Amendment Act 1953; Section 25A), living on the earnings of prostitution ( Section 26:[1] of the Summary Offences Act 1953) and keeping a ...common bawdy-house (The Criminal Law Consolidation Act Section 270 [1] Link is not working, so has been taken down All of these laws are clearly aimed at the organisers and those associated with sex work, however, sex workers can be and have been charged under these laws. Additionally, there are several laws that target landlords and tenants who permit their premises to be used as a brothel. These offences are contained in Section 29 [a], Link is not working, so has been taken down and section 31 [1],[2],[3],[4] of The Summary Offences Act.

Definition of Brothel

The definition of a brothel is pivotal to enforcement of most of the above charges, because law enforcers must prove that the alleged offence occurred in a brothel, or, indeed that a premises is a brothel. The definition contained in the Summary Offences Act (1953) Section 27 states that; 'brothels means premises- (a) to which persons resort to for the purposes of prostitution or (b) occupied or used for the purposes of prostitution (premises includes a part of premises)

This definition is quite broad and could even, for example, be used to encompass an escort agency office/premises if it were to openly operate and admit to providing commercial sexual services rather than escort services. However, while escort agencies continue to maintain that they only provide "company" for clients, it is difficult for law enforcers to prove otherwise and thus brothels are usually premises where commercial sex takes place at that location on a regular or consistent basis.

A client’s home is not considered to be a brothel even if a client uses sex work services at their residence regularly. The same applies to hotels/motels under normal circumstances. Occasionally, however, when rooms have been let out on a regular basis for the purpose of commercial sex, hotel proprietors/managers have been charged with keeping a brothel.

A sex worker’s own home may be defined as a brothel and she/he may be charged with keeping a brothel even if the private sex worker is the only person working from the premises. Advertising usually alerts the police to suburban sex workers working discreetly from residential settings even if neighbours and surrounding residences are not aware of the existence and/or nature of their neighbour’s home based business.

The definition of sex work

The definition of what constitutes sex work is also very broad. The Summary Offences Act (1953) states that "prostitutes are persons offering themselves as participants for reward in a physical act of indecently for the sexual gratification of another". A 1996 court appeal ruled that a nude, Thai massage (a euphemism for a body to body massage or body slide) was intended to provide lewd or sexual gratification and was therefore an act of prostitution. Therefore over the years, "massage" workers have regularly been charged with a range sex work offences. In summary, the laws pertaining to sex work mainly relate to brothel based sex work although offences such as "procuring" and "living on the earnings" can be applied in other sex industry contexts such as escort or visiting services. In practice, these laws are usually applied to sex industry businesses that can be determined to be brothels whether or not they operate overtly as brothels or as masked businesses such as massage studios.

Escort

Escort based sex work, although a more modern context for sex industry work, has flourished in light of the prohibitive brothel based sex industry laws. Escort agencies also operate as masked businesses, in that operators maintain that they provide staff for the company of clients rather than for sexual services because the latter could leave operators open to the sex industry related charges of "living off the earnings" and "procuring" a person to become a sex worker.

Street based The Summary Offences Act section 25 [a], Link is not working, so has been taken down makes it illegal “to solicit or loiter in a public place for the purpose of prostitution”. Condoms can be used as evidence by police.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top