Page 4599 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 15 December 1993
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Mr Connolly: Of going anywhere near a service station.
MR MOORE: One wonders how he manages to fill up his car with petrol.
Mr De Domenico: Or Grahame Bates trying to get a job as a doctor.
Mr Kaine: Mr Connolly will be okay in Burmah Oil.
MR MOORE: I hear interjections from members about other examples. Perhaps one area of employment that is overlooked in terms of future employment is that of the police. There are many instances where former police officers have complained of discrimination on the grounds that they were once described as "cops" or "pigs" or "the enemy". This sort of prejudice, this sort of discrimination, is entirely inappropriate. Apart from employment in the obvious area of security, many police officers have found it very difficult, because of suspicion and prejudice, to obtain employment in organisations on the basis of merit.
One area of persistent discrimination which has health and social justice ramifications that demand our serious attention is that shown by medical practitioners, legal practitioners, insurance companies and others against workers in the sex industry. We have come a long way in our attitude to those involved in this industry. This Assembly reformed our legislation on prostitution on a vote of 16 to one, as I recall. We have had to be pragmatic, for various sound reasons based on community health. We cannot, I believe, give dangerous mixed messages to the community. Sex workers need to be checked regularly and treated by doctors, just like everybody else in our community. There have been reports of workers being denied treatment because of prejudice, with perhaps a little ignorance. The ramifications of this discrimination are that the worker is discouraged from taking proper health care, which is in dire contradiction to the health policies demanded of this now controlled industry.
In the past, members of the police force have also been reported as not attending assault cases involving sex workers or, if they do, dismissing it as part of their job. This is a particularly frightening attitude which conveys the message that violence against a woman in a sexual transaction is okay. Unfortunately, the discrimination goes on further, into the courtroom, where this attitude has also been carried through. We have seen examples of that in other places in Australia, although I am not aware of any in the ACT, certainly in recent times. Cases have been reported of women who have demonstrated that they are exemplary parents in every way but have lost custody and even domestic violence orders against their violent partners simply on the grounds that they once worked or are still employed in the sex industry. Too many cases have been reported of a man being acquitted of a violent assault against a woman because she happens to be employed in the sex industry. These are very serious indictments of a hypocritical community, which on the one hand keeps the industry thriving with customers and on the other hand punishes it with moral judgments and contraventions of basic human rights.
Another serious example of discrimination comes from the insurance industry in regard to insuring sex workers. We come face to face with a catch-22 situation, where the Government demands - in fact, this parliament demands - that all industries be insured for workers compensation and fines heavily any company that does not insure its workers. However, out of sheer ignorance, insurance
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