Sex Work
Young Japanese prostitute, Kalgoorlie, ca late 1890s. Courtesy Outback Family History.
Women sex workers arrived with the miners in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie at the turn of the century. Norma King writes that by 1897 there were an estimated fifty brothels in Coolgardie. [1] Prostitution itself is not illegal in Kalgoorlie and has instead been run informally under a regime known as the Containment Policy'. [2]
In 1902 Hay Street was officially recognised as the 'red light district' of Kalgoorlie. As Elaine Mckewon writes, 'No other town in Australia is known to have so openly supported the presence of prostitution within its jurisdiction'. [3]
Japanese, French and English prostitutes plied their trade across the goldfields. Karayuki-san or Japanese prostitutes were 'among the first transnational sex-workers' to exploit the opportunities provided by the gold boom. [4] One of the most poignant stories about the fate of these karayuki-san is the death of a young woman called Oyoni from venereal disease in the Coolgardie Hospital in 1906. With the advent of the White Australia Policy no new sex workers from Japan were allowed into the country.
Goldfields police adopted a pragmatic approach to prostitution, routinely fining the female workers in lieu of taxation. Women sex workers now pay taxes and are recorded in the Taxation department as working in the Entertainment industry.
In 1994 the Containment Policy was rescinded, to the dismay of brothel madam Carmel Galvin, who believes the change has been detrimental to the health and welfare of both the sex workers and their clients.
Work for women in Hay Street brothels has declined with Questa Casa now only employing two sex workers. However, 'skimpy barmaids' who sometimes sell sex are part of the fly in fly out or FIFO population of Kalgoorlie, some coming from as far away as Brisbane. Brothels have become tourist destinations.
Women's Stories
Read more about women from Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the Australian Women's Register.
- Carmel Galvin - Business owner
Audio
- Title
- Carmel Galvin discussing an influx of Asian brothels after the lifting containment
- Type
- Interview
- Source
- Criena Fitzgerald
- Title
- Carmel Galvin discussing the monitoring of girls by police, skimpy barmaids, the benefits of brothels and the history of brothels in Kalgoorlie
- Type
- Interview
- Source
- Criena Fitzgerald
- Title
- Carmel Galvin makes the decision to become a Madam after the death of her husband
- Type
- Interview
- Source
- Criena Fitzgerald
- Title
- Carmel Galvin: Containment of brothels in kalgoorlie
- Type
- Interview
- Source
- Criena Fitzgerald
- Title
- Carmel Galvin: Role of the Madam
- Type
- Interview
- Source
- Criena Fitzgerald
- Title
- Carmel Galvin: Stigma of work as a prostitute
- Type
- Interview
- Source
- Criena Fitzgerald
Images
- Title
- Brothel Madam Carmel Galvin outside Questa Casa, Hay Street, Kalgoorlie
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- Image
- Date
- 2011
- Source
- Carmel Galvin
- Title
- Questa Casa Brothel, Hay Street, Kalgoorlie
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- Image
- Source
- Carmel Galvin
- Title
- Young Japanese prostitute, Kalgoorlie, ca late 1890s
- Type
- Image
- Source
- Outback Family History