Sex Work Decriminalization Bill Fails in South Australia Again

After 13 tries over 20 years, legislation that would decriminalize sex work in South Australia, the fifth most populous state in Australia, has gone down to defeat. As AVN.com reported, the state legislature’s upper house passed the bill after two days of debate in June. But the state assembly in Adelaide then needed to approve the bill as well. On November 13, the assembly took that vote—and rejected the bill by five votes, 24-19, as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. The bill was defeated on a “conscience vote,” meaning that the assembly members were not required to vote along strict party lines, but permitted by their respective parties to vote however they saw fit. The state’s attorney general, Vickie Chapman, backed the bill and told ABC she was “disappointed” by yet another defeat for the decriminalization effort. "I feel for those sex workers in our community who will still be treated as second-class citizens, and will still be able to be prosecuted for their work," Chapman, a member of Australia’s Liberal Party, told the network. "With the failing of this bill, sex workers are now still left in a position where their safety is at risk.” Green Party legislator Tammy Franks, who also sponsored the bill, lashed out at the state’s opposition Labor Party for opposing the bill. "We have the most archaic laws in the country,” Franks said. “It's an abject failure for the Labor Party to say that they represent workers when today, so many Labor-right members in particular voted against workers.” In the past three years, only four individuals have actually been fined for sex work-related offenses. Under the bill, living off the proceeds from sex-related work would no longer be a crime. In addition, the bill would have barred discrimination against sex workers and former sex workers on the basis of their profession. The term “common prostitute” would have been removed from South Australia’s criminal code under the bill, if it had survived the assembly vote. Photo By Rocky88 / Wikimedia Commons