"We already have the best laws in the country in relation to the regulation of the sex industry" says Andrew Burry, General Manager of the AIDS Action Council. "However, that doesn't mean that we can't do better. The Prostitution Act is almost 20 years old and back then it was breaking new ground for Australia. There are provisions that have not had the intended consequences, and there are situations that were not foreseen at the time."
"There is copious evidence in Australia and abroad that good laws reduce sexually transmitted infections including HIV and protect the safety of sex workers and clients."
The AIDS Action Council runs the Sex Worker Outreach Project ACT, a peer-based education and health promotion project working with private and brothel-based sex workers.
"We work with sex workers to make sure they understand their rights and responsibilities in the ACT" says Lex Jury, Sex Worker Outreach Project Officer. "For many workers, confusion and misunderstanding about their rights makes it difficult to access government services and medical services when they need to, and this puts them in a potentially vulnerable position."
"The community might have many views on sex work, but it's a job just like any other. Sex workers have a right to be safe, and a right to privacy and dignity."
The AIDS Action Council of the ACT is a community based organisation established to minimise the social and personal impacts, and transmission, of HIV/AIDS. The Council remains as the only community based HIV specific agency in the ACT region and has developed into a strong organisation with services based on sound evidence, specialist knowledge and professional practice.
To page top