Wednesday, 28 May 2025

Southside Justice sex worker legal program

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:50): (1677) My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General, and the action I seek is for their advocacy to ensure funding for Southside Justice’s sex worker legal program. In 2022 the Victorian government changed the law to finally recognise sex work as legitimate work and aimed to improve safety, health and human rights for workers across the state. Southside Justice’s sex worker legal program is one of just two legal programs for sex workers in Australia and has seen demand for its services continue to grow year on year. Since 2022 it has provided free specialist legal services to hundreds of sex workers facing stigma, discrimination and unsafe working conditions who would otherwise be unable to access justice.

I would like to share just one example, noting that names have been changed with permission. This program helped people like Annie. Annie provided commercial sex services to Trayvon, who later made it clear that he had no intention of paying. Annie was unable to afford private legal help and was referred to the sex worker legal program. It was there that she was supported to pursue a civil and criminal case, as fraudulent consent could be considered sexual assault under Victorian law. Trayvon has since paid the debt, and the criminal case is ongoing. This story of non-payment and sexual assault is all too common. People involved in the sex industry face stigma, inequality and power imbalances on top of existing barriers to justice. This is why specialist, trauma-informed legal support is so important.

I was deeply disappointed that the Victorian government ignored my calls to fund this program in a recent state budget. Other sources of funding for the program will cease in December, placing the program at serious risk of closure. At the same time, the legislation that decriminalised sex work in Victoria will soon be up for review. A failure to fund this program and support the invaluable contribution to a future review is a mistake. Funding for the sex worker legal program is vital to improving the safety and wellbeing of all sex workers and for the effective decriminalisation of sex work. So I ask: will the Attorney-General advocate to ensure funding for Southside Justice’s sex worker legal program?