Sex work will count as ''gainful'' employment when it comes to the federal government considering whether or not a young person should have to wait six months to get unemployment benefits.
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Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews has moved to clear up confusion over who would be subjected to government plans to make people under 30 wait for 26 weeks before receiving unemployment payments.
The policy, which is due to start from January 1 2015, would not apply to all young people seeking Newstart or Youth Allowance. Those who have previously been employed may qualify for a waiver of at least four weeks.
However, it had appeared sex workers would be treated differently from other workers if they found themselves unemployed.
The bill that contains the six-month waiting period passed the lower house in June and has since been introduced into the Senate.
The explanatory material with the bill, circulated ''by the authority'' of Mr Andrews, states that he as Social Services Minister can reduce the waiting period if a person has ''participated in previous periods of gainful work''.
The memorandum then goes on to outline forms of work that would not be classified as ''gainful''. These include ''domestic or gardening tasks'' at the applicant's house of that of a family member, work ''for the purpose of achieving election of the person to public office'' and work that involves nudity or is in the sex industry.
The exclusion of sex work prompted an outcry from the National Welfare Rights Network, who in a submission to a Senate inquiry into the bill earlier this month, said it was ''objectionable to allow moral judgments to enter the Social Security Act and determine something as important as length of waiting period''.
On Thursday, in response to questions about singling out sex workers, a spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said there had been ''no decision to exempt any type of gainful work from the waiting period concession for Newstart of Youth Allowance''.
''A person lawfully employed in any industry, including the sex industry, will qualify [for a reduction in the waiting period].''
Australian Sex Workers Association chief executive Janelle Fawkes welcomed the clarification from Mr Andrews but said she wanted to be sure the government recognised sex work was legitimate and legal employment in Australia.
"Sex workers are covered by anti-discrimination laws in some states specifically to prevent sex workers being singled out because of our chosen occupation," she said.
"It is not clear to us why the Australian government would specifically list sex workers but unfortunately it reflects the high levels of stigma and discrimination sex workers in Australia experience."
