Sex worker says new laws unsafe
A Brisbane-based escort says new laws that allow motel owners the right to refuse sex workers rooms, places them at greater risk.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told News Limited the new laws negotiate the safety of workers.
"You're more at risk," she said "Especially these days, it's even more now the way the young guys take drugs and stuff. They've got no respect for you whatsoever.
"You have to have privacy and I think in motels is the only really safe spot.
"As it is, not many motels take you because the police sort of put the scare on as it is. I do know that motels are very awkward like that," she said.
Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie introduced changes last month that give business owners the right to refuse to rent out rooms to sex workers.
Accommodation Association of Austrlia chief Richard Munro said motel owners had been encountering problems in resource-rich areas across Queensland, which prompted the law changes.
"We don't mind the fact that that activity is going on but the key thing for us was that owners and managers had the right to make the decision about whether a business operates or doesn't operate," he said.
"It would be the same as if it was a barber shop. If someone decided to open up one of the rooms and started cutting hair, we would also be angry about that because of all the public liability and issues that go with running a business on a premises, they're not picking up any of that responsibility."
