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SYDNEY: Foreign backpackers funding their Australian
travels through illegal sex work are robbing the legitimate industry
of profits and threatening clients’ health, a brothel lobbyist
warned Tuesday.
Many young tourists to sun-soaked
northeastern Queensland state were making a quick buck as
black-market prostitutes, undermining registered operators’
attempts to uphold health and safety standards, the Queensland Adult
Business Association’s Nick Inskip claimed.
“Especially when you go up to
northern Queensland, it’s not unusual for them to be working in
the illegal escort industry,” Inskip said.
Having fewer overheads, they
could often undercut the legal sex industry on price, making it
harder for the state’s 23 legal brothels to make a profit, he
said.
“They can charge less because
they are not paying GST [goods and services tax], staff costs for
managers and receptionists,” Inskip said.
The tax office, which recently
began a drive to collect tax from the industry, was also hard
pressed to keep tabs on their undercover activities, he said.
“No one asks to see their
passports. If you go to a licensed brothel the first thing they do
is ask for your passport and whether you are here legally.”
Although prostitution at
registered brothels is legal in many parts of Australia, recent
research suggests the taxman’s attempts to target the industry has
sparked an exodus towards riskier illegal sex work.
Academics have also noted that
the crippling cost of higher education in Australia has forced some
foreign students to seek work as illegal prostitutes to make ends
meet.
--AFP
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