|
Adult Shops Discriminated Against in Job Network |
 |
 |
 |
|
Written by ASP | Fona Patten
|
|
Friday, 10 April 2009 00:36 |
Australia’s 1,000 adult retail shops and 500 other adult products and entertainment companies are being denied access to the government’s Job Network scheme under secret ‘moral’ guidelines.
Australian Sex Party convenor, Fiona Patten, said that federal government policies that stopped Job Search agencies from advertising adult retail employment opportunities, were stopping up to 5,000 people a year from getting a job in a legal business, purely on moral grounds. “These businesses cannot even apply to get a cleaner or an accountant through the Job Network and we would like the Minister to change the rules for job placement agencies under his new Job Services Australia Network”, she said. “The federal government should also bring in new anti-discrimination laws that stop people from discriminating against others on the grounds of job, occupation or profession”.
Ms Patten said she had written to the Minister for Employment Participation, Brendan O’Connor about the situation but in reply, had been told that the reason for this was because teenagers and school leavers used the services and that it was not appropriate to have adult retailers up there. “Mr O’Connor conveniently forgot to mention that age restricted alcohol and gambling employers were not barred from using the services and were quite at liberty to access the JobSearch website. They even have a special section for butchers and slaughterers so vegetarians and Buddhists wouldn’t accidentally stumble in there”. She called on the Minister to state which Australian businesses will be morally unfit to access the Job Services Australia Network and to explain on what basis these decisions were reached.
The Minister also stated that allowing adult retailers into the JobSearch network would bring Commonwealth programs into disrepute. Ms Patten said that the notion that a legal business in Australia seeking to employ people, could somehow bring a government into disrepute was an outrageous and totally unsubstantiated claim and that the Minister should apologise to the 20,000 adult retail employees in Australia. “The adult retail market in Australia turns over $500 million and contributes a substantial amount of money to the tax base of Australia and the working environment”, she said. “Adult retailers pay millions of dollars a year in payroll and other taxes and are then denied access to the schemes that create this wealth. The Rudd government should not be putting 1950s morality up as a reason to discriminate against a major employer in these tough times”.
Ms Patten said that community standards were such these days that employment in adult retailing was considered no different than employment in night clubs or bars. More than half of employees and managers in this sector were female and 70% of people who worked in the industry were supporting a family.
Australian Sex Party: PO Box 181, Deakin West, 2600 ACT. Ph 02 62852477, www.sexparty.org.au
|
