A bunch of sex workers, dressed more magnificently than usual for their profession (but what would we know?), protested outside State Parliament yesterday against the Brothels Legislation Amendment Bill, which was passed in the lower house last week and faces the upper house this week. The protesters say the laws will lead to corruption and the enriching of big public brothels at the expense of smaller, more discreet premises.

Our bohemia correspondent, Ben Cubby, reports that the bill makes it easier for councils to crack down on sex workers operating from private homes. A single complaint may be enough to bring a court order against individual sex workers or massage parlour operators, and local courts can cut off gas and water to suspected premises.

"It will mean that a big commercial brothel can make a complaint and get an independent worker shut down because they see them as competition," said Janelle Fawkes, a spokeswoman for the Scarlet Alliance. "It could also lead to people who are not actually participating in the sex industry at all to be targeted, just on the basis of suspicions."

She is worried that council inspectors could be exposed to possible corruption, and says small operators visited by a few clients a week should be exempt from the new laws.

http://blogs.smh.com.au/sit/archives/2007/06/scarlet_women_resist_the_act.html