Would you consider this discrimination?

[A Little Batty]

In Australia, when you aren't working you can apply for welfare benefits. You're put with a job network provider to help you look for work and things.

If you are self employed, you have to let centrelink know. In most cases as long as you're receiving payments you have to be in connection with a job network provider.

Due to my anxiety and panic attacks, my work hours are expected to be 15 hours per week. Which is very easy to meet with camming.

For people who are self employed, they are usually happy to write you off as long as you tell them what kind of work you're doing, that you're meeting the minimum hours, and show them that you're getting paid. Making progress.

However, they've told me that they can't accept and exempt me from looking for work for adult work/camming. That it's against their policy to accept it. Centrelink, our welfare system is fine with it. They don't care as long as you're making an effort to get off their books.

I'm just wondering if this is discrimination on sex workers and if I should fight it?

They can't be not accepting it because of it being done from home. There are people running ebay businesses who are exempted.
And does that mean that a stripper who works at a strip club, which is a job with a workplace, is not accepted because it's part of the adult industry?

I'm trying to get off the welfare ASAP. It's hard to juggle working and mental illness and be their trick pony @.@

 

[SaffronBurke]

I'm just wondering if this is discrimination on sex workers and if I should fight it?

Unless Australia has way different laws from the US, we're not protected from discrimination based on our jobs. It's typically a good idea to not say you're in the adult industry, but rather a half-truth about what you're doing. When I applied for state insurance, I said I do "social media marketing and video editing," which isn't a lie, since I do those as part of camming and clip selling.

 

[A Little Batty]

Unless Australia has way different laws from the US, we're not protected from discrimination based on our jobs. It's typically a good idea to not say you're in the adult industry, but rather a half-truth about what you're doing. When I applied for state insurance, I said I do "social media marketing and video editing," which isn't a lie, since I do those as part of camming and clip selling.

I just found this website: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/empl...ts/quick-guide-australian-discrimination-laws

Under my state, it has this:

Victoria: Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (VIC)

Discrimination on the basis of age, breastfeeding, disability, employment activity, gender identity, industrial activity, lawful sexual activity, marital status, parental status or status as a carer, physical features, political belief or activity, pregnancy, race (including colour, nationality, ethnicity and ethnic origin), religious belief or activity, sex, sexual orientation, and personal association with someone who has, or is assumed to have, any of these personal characteristics.

Sexual harassment is also prohibited under this Act.

With this next to it.

Discrimination in employment, partnerships, firms, qualifying bodies, industrial organisations, education, provision of goods and services, disposal of land, accommodation (including alteration of accommodation), clubs, sport, and local government.

Which to me, sounds like it might be covered?

 

[Gen]

I just found this website: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/empl...ts/quick-guide-australian-discrimination-laws

Under my state, it has this:



With this next to it.



Which to me, sounds like it might be covered?

I’d talk to a lawyer in Australia. There aren’t a lot of Aussies here (as far as I know!), and this is something I’d suggest getting professional advice on.

 

[SMuser69]

Playing devils advocate on this. You need to consider they're purpose is to get your working. It would be bad advice for them to suggest any career path that can stigmatize you from other careers not to mention if there are legal grey lines or not.

I wouldn't say it's discrimination, just if the point is to give you money while they help you reduce economic uncertainty supporting career paths that both stigmatize and have a low success rate wouldn't be in their interest. They had factor in the job world as it currently is not how people feel about it.

They have to look at this in a logical rational sense. What jobs can they train you in quickly that they don't have to support you. Entertainment industry jobs simply are risk heavy because your success is controlled by popular opinion as much as skill.

 

[A Little Batty]

Playing devils advocate on this. You need to consider they're purpose is to get your working. It would be bad advice for them to suggest any career path that can stigmatize you from other careers not to mention if there are legal grey lines or not.

I wouldn't say it's discrimination, just if the point is to give you money while they help you reduce economic uncertainty supporting career paths that both stigmatize and have a low success rate wouldn't be in their interest. They had factor in the job world as it currently is not how people feel about it.

They have to look at this in a logical rational sense. What jobs can they train you in quickly that they don't have to support you. Entertainment industry jobs simply are risk heavy because your success is controlled by popular opinion as much as skill.

Our system is really messed up. They're meant to help us look for work, but what they really do it sit there and tell you to apply for jobs.
They're given money to help get you job ready. It's meant to be used to get work interview attire if the person doesn't have any, as well as short courses and travel, but any of that money they don't spend on you, becomes a bonus in their pockets.
and if they get you a job, aka, tell you to apply for jobs and then you get one, they get paid more.

So that would be my reasoning, and I can understand that reasoning. Anyone in the position of possibly getting more money will of course want more money.
But I'm here for the long haul in the adult industry. I don't hide the fact that I'm a camgirl, and when people ask me what I do, I'm up front about it.
I know that the adult industry isn't 'forever', and one day I will have to seek other work, but that's a problem for tomorrow's me.

Right now, I'm in a country that has low employment rates, with mental illness that prevents me from doing a lot of work anyway. I found something I actually like to do, and it gives the chance for me to be independent. Why wouldn't I want to fight for that?

 

[SMuser69]

But do you need the welfare then? Do they still force you to apply for jobs when you aren't receiving assistance?

 

[A Little Batty]

I do because I'm only just starting out again this month.
I'll need it until I'm earning a minimum of $1,200AUD a month.
Which isn't much, considering I live with my family.

Once I'm steady earning that, and have a couple months savings, I really want to say goodbye to them.

Usually, people who are low income earners can stay on benefits, and when they earn less the Government will pay. But if you earn over a certain amount, they pay nothing.

But the thing is, is that the provider won't accept the adult work. The job providers are private businesses. Centrelink, our welfare system, will accept that I'm doing adult work. They don't care as long as I report what I'm earning to them, and pay my taxes.

But regardless if I'm working 40+ hours a week in adult work, the job provider will expect me to still attend appointments, look for a certain number of jobs, and go for job interviews.

If it was say a mother, who was knitting baby booties to sell on ebay and etsy, she would be accepted. She would be exempted for looking for work as long as she meets her hours, keeps them update, and reports her incomes to centrelink.

 

[Serenity_Tam]

If it was say a mother, who was knitting baby booties to sell on ebay and etsy

You aren't though. You're a sex worker.

As a sex worker it will benefit you to remember that distinction will likely always exist. In many cases different rules will exist for us and no one will give two thoughts about it. A mum with an etsy shop can slap that on her resume, a sex worker can't. Being a sex worker hurts your resume, being a mum with an etsy shop doesn't. It's just how it is in the current times we live in.


I would agree with what has been mentioned here, if it's worth it to you consult a lawyer in your area for sure. If it's a private business and they can do what they want there may be nothing you can do.

 

[BufordT]

Yes, obviously check with legal counsel. But in this situation I think there will be nothing you can do. There are different rules for the adult industry but that is not the only problem here. If I understand this right you would like benefits until you get to a certain income level. There is nothing wrong with that. And thankfully your government accepts the adult industry. However it sounds like the process they make you follow includes private companies who don't accept the adult industry. So if you make less than the cutoff amount you need to follow private company rules. If you make more it won't matter. It sounds like while you are on the bubble, maybe needing it some times but not others you would like it to be available. It should be but laws don't always catch up to modern times. In this case it might be best to color the truth a little. It's great that you don't hide what you are doing but society hasn't completely made peace with this industry either.

 

[Joshiee]

In Australia, when you aren't working you can apply for welfare benefits. You're put with a job network provider to help you look for work and things.

If you are self employed, you have to let centrelink know. In most cases as long as you're receiving payments you have to be in connection with a job network provider.

Due to my anxiety and panic attacks, my work hours are expected to be 15 hours per week. Which is very easy to meet with camming.

For people who are self employed, they are usually happy to write you off as long as you tell them what kind of work you're doing, that you're meeting the minimum hours, and show them that you're getting paid. Making progress.

However, they've told me that they can't accept and exempt me from looking for work for adult work/camming. That it's against their policy to accept it. Centrelink, our welfare system is fine with it. They don't care as long as you're making an effort to get off their books.

I'm just wondering if this is discrimination on sex workers and if I should fight it?

They can't be not accepting it because of it being done from home. There are people running ebay businesses who are exempted.
And does that mean that a stripper who works at a strip club, which is a job with a workplace, is not accepted because it's part of the adult industry?

I'm trying to get off the welfare ASAP. It's hard to juggle working and mental illness and be their trick pony @.@

To skip my opinion, there should be an answer somewhere in the internet which gives you the full detail on what is discrimination or what is ethically accepted.

Unfortunately, I don't have that info and hopefully your state and/or city has more info into that...... ... ... but, there's not much info on adult work in general....so I see why you are asking here for answers...

All i can say is that businesses like Ebay, since they are part of the monopoly, have special treatments.

And until we become something as big as Ebay... all the government will say is... " illegal " hahaha the irony, right? .

Best,

Josh

 

[A Little Batty]

Thank you for the insight guys. I think I'm gonna go with half truths. Tell them that I'm a Social Media Marketer with a small clientele base. Aka, me! lol

To skip my opinion, there should be an answer somewhere in the internet which gives you the full detail on what is discrimination or what is ethically accepted.

Unfortunately, I don't have that info and hopefully your state and/or city has more info into that...... ... ... but, there's not much info on adult work in general....so I see why you are asking here for answers...

All i can say is that businesses like Ebay, since they are part of the monopoly, have special treatments.

And until we become something as big as Ebay... all the government will say is... " illegal " hahaha the irony, right? .

Best,

Josh

The Government isn't against sex workers at all though. Hell, there's an entire section on our government tax website. Telling people what you can and cannot claim on tax for sex workers.

 

[BufordT]

Thank you for the insight guys. I think I'm gonna go with half truths. Tell them that I'm a Social Media Marketer with a small clientele base. Aka, me! lol

That's a good way to spin it Hmm, you know, you may still want to get a little advice regarding reporting and taxes. Hopefully you can use the same job description for everything but that could be an issue for your government. Maybe someone with experience in your system will answer the thread. I would think that whatever you tell the private companies could be separate from what you report for taxes but I don't know.

 

[EmptyKins]

Boleyn models offers income verification that is tied to a non sex worker website and business llc. They even offer pay stubs. It might work for you in this situation! They only take 5% which to me is a very reasonable rate for the services offered which also include daily pay.

If you look into it and it's something that would help your situation I'd be ecstatic if you use my link to sign up!! It wouldn't take anything from your earnings and I'll just leave it here: https://admin.boleynmodels.com/ref?page=&campaign=&affToken=NTY3

 

[A Little Batty]

Boleyn models offers income verification that is tied to a non sex worker website and business llc. They even offer pay stubs. It might work for you in this situation! They only take 5% which to me is a very reasonable rate for the services offered which also include daily pay.

If you look into it and it's something that would help your situation I'd be ecstatic if you use my link to sign up!! It wouldn't take anything from your earnings and I'll just leave it here: https://admin.boleynmodels.com/ref?page=&campaign=&affToken=NTY3

It's customary and polite to provide a non-affiliate link as well..

 

[Gen]

It's customary and polite to provide a non-affiliate link as well..

She disclosed it was an affiliate link and shared relevant information, it’s easy to Google if for some douchey reason you decided to sign up but didn’t want to credit the person who shared it with you.

 

[A Little Batty]

She disclosed it was an affiliate link and shared relevant information, it’s easy to Google if for some douchey reason you decided to sign up but didn’t want to credit the person who shared it with you.

Maybe I've spent too long on old school forums then.

 

[Gen]

Maybe I've spent too long on old school forums then.

Maybe! For the amount of info camgirls provide here for free, I would hope anytime someone signs up for a site that they heard of from here, they would use an affiliate link from the girl who mentioned it. I’ve gone out of my way to PM girls who post about a site that I decide to sign up for. Literally no reason not to, especially when the post is relevant and useful to the topic, not like she’s spamming for no reason.

 

[A Little Batty]

Maybe! For the amount of info camgirls provide here for free, I would hope anytime someone signs up for a site that they heard of from here, they would use an affiliate link from the girl who mentioned it. I’ve gone out of my way to PM girls who post about a site that I decide to sign up for. Literally no reason not to, especially when the post is relevant and useful to the topic, not like she’s spamming for no reason.

I get that, but it's still polite to give people a choice.

To me it's not that relevant because it's only that one site that offers that service, and she didn't give her opinion on the topic at hand.

I guess it's best to agree to disagree.

 

[BufordT]

I get that, but it's still polite to give people a choice.

To me it's not that relevant because it's only that one site that offers that service, and she didn't give her opinion on the topic at hand.

I guess it's best to agree to disagree.

Maybe I'm wrong but I think you might have missed the point in her post. Boleyn could give you an option that would be acceptable to the government and private companies. I don't think it is the only way but just an option. As far as affiliate links I don't think any harm was meant.

 

[A Little Batty]

Maybe I'm wrong but I think you might have missed the point in her post. Boleyn could give you an option that would be acceptable to the government and private companies. I don't think it is the only way but just an option. As far as affiliate links I don't think any harm was meant.

I think I did miss the point. I see that it's an agency, not a camsite in and of itself.
I still stand my politeness statement though.. Just something I learned back when I was on Black Hat World a decade ago.

 

[BufordT]

I think I did miss the point. I see that it's an agency, not a camsite in and of itself.
I still stand my politeness statement though.. Just something I learned back when I was on Black Hat World a decade ago.

Understood. Politeness on the internet is hard to come by and is usually a matter of perception and not always intention. By the way, @Gen why haven't they ever made a good Daredevil movie with all the superhero movies out now? Sorry, just trying to lighten things up a little

 

[JickyJuly]

I doubt it's discrimination on their end. I'm not even sure discrimination is a proper term when talking about a career and its affect on financial gains. That agency probably tries to deny people as often as they can.There are always little loopholes when trying to collect money. I received unemployment once when fired. At the time, I was in beauty school. The first person I talked to while applying said that I would NOT be able to be approved for unemployment because I was in college. I hung up and called back. This time, I called my beauty school vocational school and career training. Boom. Approved. Maybe the person reviewing your case doesn't see sex work as a building business? Perhaps they are assuming that what you make now is what you can make without room to grow? If you're at a dead end, they can deny you. Either way, when you are asking for money, you have to think with your wallet not your heart. Is gaining the respect of a pencil pusher for your sex work the hill you want to die on? It's doubtful that any government agent gives a shit how you make your money. They just want to tell you no. Why make it easy for them?

 

[BufordT]

I doubt it's discrimination on their end. I'm not even sure discrimination is a proper term when talking about a career and its affect on financial gains. That agency probably tries to deny people as often as they can.There are always little loopholes when trying to collect money. I received unemployment once when fired. At the time, I was in beauty school. The first person I talked to while applying said that I would NOT be able to be approved for unemployment because I was in college. I hung up and called back. This time, I called my beauty school vocational school and career training. Boom. Approved. Maybe the person reviewing your case doesn't see sex work as a building business? Perhaps they are assuming that what you make now is what you can make without room to grow? If you're at a dead end, they can deny you. Either way, when you are asking for money, you have to think with your wallet not your heart. Is gaining the respect of a pencil pusher for your sex work the hill you want to die on? It's doubtful that any government agent gives a shit how you make your money. They just want to tell you no. Why make it easy for them?

I agree with you most of the time but in this case discrimination really does fit. Although it can't be legally applied. But your other points make sense. Discrimination is a legal term for protected classes, in the U.S. at least. But discrimination is how all decisions are made in real life. Include this, exclude that. Legally discrimination laws are meant specifically to prevent hampering career and financial gains. I don't think this will fall into a protected class either but the idea that it restricts financial gain is one thing discrimination laws are meant for.

 

[OldHippy]

I don't have any experience with Centrelink, nor the job network providers (apart from reading that they can be a bit hit and miss..).

Sex work is definitely legal in Victoria and as far as Australian law is concerned there really should be no difference with someone selling baby booties on eBay they knitted at home and camming.

I don't know what your options are in terms of changing providers, as some providers are run by religious institutions and hence the potential bias advice (although that really should not be happening and if it was the case it would be really dodgy).

Contact legal aid in Victoria https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/contact-us for some free advice.

Good luck!

 

[OldHippy]

Also if you have a disability that is stopping you from working full time, have you considered if the NDIS could help you?

https://www.ndis.gov.au

Again good luck, mental illness is horrible. There is really good help available for you to get better.

 

[EleanorGee]

So the issue is with the job center not accepting it? If Centerlink accepts it there shouldn't be an issue. You will need to make a report about this directly to CL. The only problem is actually getting in contact with them and having them be willing to work with you.

 

[BufordT]

@A Little Batty You know, it still seems necessary to find a way to report your earnings to the employment service provider. If making it a more generic work title does that then great. There is an issue which I don't think you can get around though. In most welfare systems they want you to get off the system as soon as possible. No matter how many hours you work if you don't earn more than the cutoff they will still require you to look for work. From the little I have read the Australian system seems no different. You might ask specifically about commission sales types of jobs and if they make any allowances for that. It has been a long time but when I tried a commission job it was acceptable but wouldn't exempt me from continued job seeking until I made enough. The other thing is you could check out exemptions like @OldHippy mentioned. Although I wouldn't look at it from the discrimination angle. Just to find out if you can get a medical or disability exemption for the job search. When you set up an account it says you can make your Job Plan with Centrelink or a service provider. Is it possible you could do this directly with Centrelink? I know sometimes even though something is possible government agencies may still farm you out to another service. I was just curious if that could be done though.

P.S. Sorry, it looks like you already have received the exemption. I don't know if you can possibly get a full exemption. But it looks like if your service provider will accept the job title you will give them then there shouldn't be any problems.

 

[A Little Batty]

Yea, I'm in the Disability stream because of my Panic Disorder. My requirements are 15 hours a week, which is the lowest you can get before you're on a disability payment.

My anxiety just gets worse when they sit there and start piling on the things that I have to do. They tell you to find suitable work, but a lot of work isn't suitable, and then you have to apply for a certain amount of jobs, what if you can't find those jobs? Things like that.

I want to avoid the run around if I can.

Thanks for all the advice though. It means a lot

 

[EmptyKins]

I get that, but it's still polite to give people a choice.

To me it's not that relevant because it's only that one site that offers that service, and she didn't give her opinion on the topic at hand.

I guess it's best to agree to disagree.

I did give my opinion on the topic by saying Boleyns income verification service would make your camming business appear as non sex work related. A quick search here on the forum would lead you to their site without my link but if you don't have the time for that it is boleynmodels.com

Relying on decade old forum etiquette may not be useful as the industry is constantly evolving. As Gen said this forum is more about girls helping each other. We tend to run off scammy white label dudes, but it's not uncommon to share affiliate links between models to share the wealth! You can do it too if you sign with Boleyn. I encourage you to check out what they have to offer as I feel they could really help your situation.