THE State Government will today table its draft Prostitution Bill 2011 for public comment.

WA Attorney-General Christian Porter said the Bill would ensure the laws of the state were transparent and would reflect the overwhelming community sentiment that prostitution should not be tolerated in the suburbs of WA.

“The Bill aims to provide police, government and the community the necessary tools to finally crack down on illegal prostitution in residential suburbs,” Mr Porter said.

“What this Bill will mean for ordinary West Australians is that if the quiet enjoyment of their neighbourhood is disrupted by unlawful brothels, and a complaint is made, police will have definitive laws to work with and the tools to shut those brothels down.

“We understand this is a difficult area for any government to address - the previous government failed to meaningfully address this issue for its entire eight years in government.

“The Liberal-National Government has worked diligently to balance the legitimate concerns of various stakeholders and produce a Bill to resolve this issue.”

The Attorney-General said it was not the State Government’s intention to condone, or in any way promote, prostitution as an ordinary, socially acceptable activity.

“It is a reality that prostitution will always be an activity which the community sees as generally objectionable and which carries significant health and safety risks and the potential for the involvement of organised crime - government should never lose sight of this,” he said.

“The Prostitution Bill 2011 will not only ban brothels from residential areas, but also ensure appropriate regulatory and licensing schemes are in place for those very limited non-residential areas where prostitution will be permitted and heavily regulated.

“Unlike Labor, we will not expect local government to carry the regulatory burden for dealing with inappropriately located brothels and we will not allow prostitution businesses of any size to operate alongside the residences, schools and churches in our suburbs.

“We urge the Opposition to consider this draft Bill and provide support for the prohibitions on all forms of prostitution business in residential areas.”

Following a six-week consultation period, the Liberal-National Government will finalise the Bill for introduction to state parliament.