Industry insiders fear sex workers will be left behind amid the coronavirus shutdown. Photo: Getty Images

Experts have revealed sex workers could be at risk of ‘slipping through the cracks’ as the government’s latest coronavirus measures come into effect.

Among the many services shut down in Australia’s latest measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 are adult entertainment venues, or sex work locations.

Now sex workers have been forced to get creative as physical services are closed down.

Mature Aussie sex worker Taylor Tara tells Yahoo Lifestyle says she is already looking for alternative work, as her income could dry up completely under the latest measures.

“I’m looking for work because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Taylor says.

“I’m doing very little [usual] work at the moment. I’m taking on no new clients whatsoever and I’m only taking on ones that I’ve been seeing over the years.”

Experts recommend all in-person services be halted where possible.

Stigma holding sex workers back

View photos Taylor says she is concerned for women less open about their profession than she is. Photo: Supplied More

She says she is concerned that sex workers will struggle to access unemployment benefits due to the stigma still facing the industry.

“I think at the moment every industry is in as much jeopardy, it’s just harder for the sex workers to actually get payouts or funding because people don’t know,” she says.

“There are so many in the mature age bracket that are too scared to risk people knowing what they do.”

It’s a fear shared by experts and industry bodies.

Cameron Cox, CEO of the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), says many sex workers are non-citizens who won’t be able to access Centrelink.

“The government payment doesn’t cover non-residents and there will be quite a number of sex workers who fall through the cracks,” he says.

View photos Those inside the industry fears sex workers could be forgotten in the coronavirus shutdown. Photo: Getty Images More

The Australian Sex Workers Association (the Scarlet Alliance), SWOP and other industry bodies have called for adequate crisis support for sex workers now at risk.

“Many sex workers are currently excluded from the stimulus packages announced by the government,” they said in a joint statement.

“We urge the government to provide adequate means of crisis support for all sex workers. Like other Australians, sex workers have been devastatingly impacted by coronavirus.”

Unstable status leaves no safety net

View photos As brothels are closed, the already-precarious employment status of sex workers has taken a dire turn. Photo: Getty Images More