The Sunday Tribune has learned that brothels across Australia are hiring young Irish girls to work as prostitutes while they are on holiday. Of 20 brothels contacted, the majority said they were hiring Irish girls under the age of 25, while all but one brothel said they knew where to find them. A Perth brothel called Club 316 said it had three Irish girls working there while on holiday, and Langtrees brothel, in the same city, had at least one Irish backpacker rostered on the evening it was contacted. The night manager at the Black Cat brothel in the heart of Sydney's red light district said it had five Irish girls rostered to work last Friday morning, and was charging clients $350 ( 210) for their one-hour service.

Kate (not her real name), a student from Co Galway, told the Sunday Tribune about her own experience working in Sydney's red light district. For Kate and her Irish friends (all in their early 20s), the neon lights of the notorious King's Cross were enticing. The area is full of hostels, Irish pubs, and late night bars, making it a favourite spot for Irish backpackers.

This part of Sydney is also considered the city's sleaziest district, packed to the brim with adult entertainment, and with brothels dotted along many of its streets, especially Darlinghurst Road.

The brothels here are quick to hire Irish visitors, since these girls have no strings attached.

According to Australia's Sex Workers' Assistance Guide (Swag), many brothels prefer girls who have "no jealous boyfriends" and are drugfree.

Young Irish students often arrive in Australia with little money, making them ripe for recruitment. Even though the Australian government legalised prostitution in the early 1980s, "it is still not necessary for prostitutes to register themselves", said Janelle Fawkes, manager of the Scarlet Alliance, Australia's state-funded sex workers' association. Fawkes said that, because of this, Irish students could get "cash in hand, upfront, before servicing their client".

After finishing her studies in Ireland, Kate travelled to Australia with enough money to get by but, after a number of good nights out and with rent to pay, she and her friends needed to find work. As English-speakers, it was easy for them to find employment in the hospitality industry and many got jobs as waitresses. Money for rent and food was not a problem, but the wages were not sufficient to fund their travels across Australia and onward to a few other world destinations before heading home.

Because they were spending many of their nights in late bars . . . "the only place to get drink after 3am, " said Kate . . . it wasn't long before she discovered how much money the escorts in these bars were earning.

"It seemed too good to pass up, " she said. "We could get more than $50 ( 30) for a lap dance, plus commission if they were spending a lot on drink, which could be another $150 ( 90)."

Many strippers in Australia have testified that strip clubs are the route to prostitution, and for Kate it was no different.

"We used to strip in front of clients for about 30 minutes, then the client would choose which one of the girls he preferred."

Even with the girls paying $100 ( 60) per client to use a room at the brothel, they were still clearing a large amount of cash each night. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), prostitution is one of the country's highest-paid professions for women.

Over 75% of prostitutes in an AIC study earned as much as the highest 9% of Australians. "Some days we made more than $1,000 ( 600), for only a four-hour shift, " said Kate, adding that some men would not even require intercourse. "I had a couple of regular clients that would hand me $300 for just fulfilling some strange fetish they had. A lot of other men were unfulfilled at home. They were often married."

Even though Irish students are pleased to make vast amounts of money, AIC statistics state that in order to cope in this environment, girls will regularly turn to drugs. Kate says she was determined to stay out of this culture, and because of this, men would pay more for her services.

For the most part, she said she was treated well by men, but admits there is a dark side to the business and that some men could become obsessed.

"It could be scary at times. Some men would regularly ask where I lived and if they could get my home number. I insisted on keeping my life and work separate."

A number of state-run services are available in Australia to assist women in prostitution who are being treated poorly by clients or brothels.

Fawkes, of the Scarlet Alliance, said Irish girls can get support from her group for any mistreatment.

"We have a lot of Irish girls who come to us for assistance, " she said. "Some of these girls may have industrial concerns; they may want to improve their work conditions or they could have faced unfair dismissal. We will do all we can to make sure these girls are not discriminated against."

Fawkes claims that by decriminalising prostitution, the stigma attached to the industry is lessened. "Irish girls will find it much easier to come to us for help than they would back home.

Because it's criminalised in Ireland, young girls are having to live a double life, they are living a secret. Here we can provide girls with a safer working environment. We can provide girls with GPs that have an understanding of their situation."

Contrary to what groups campaigning for the abolition of prostitution have said, Fawkes insists that the decriminalisation of prostitution had not caused an increase in the industry in Australia. She said that the environment is safe and that the risk of HIV was lower among prostitutes than the general public, because "condoms are so widely available".

The brothels themselves also stand by this claim. The Planet brothel in Melbourne, which employs Irish girls, states on its website that "in the entire history of the establishment, there has not been one report of infection . . . STD or otherwise". This brothel also said that it doesn't tolerate sex without "condoms and/or dental dams".

Kate agrees that the brothel in which she worked was reasonably safe. There was a large red buzzer beside the bed and burly bouncers on hand if there was any trouble, she said. But, looking back, she admits that her situation was not ideal. "Nobody wants to have sex with three or four strangers a day and we would get some bizarre men."

Despite Kate's claims about being unaffected by her experiences, Geraldine Rowley of Ruhama, the Irish organisation which works with women involved in prostitution, said that there are longterm psychological effects linked to prostitution. "There is research that makes a direct link to post-traumatic stress disorder. Even if prostitution is legal in Australia, there is still a stigma attached to it, and there remains an element of secrecy."

She warns Irish backpackers against entering into prostitution, saying it is "a difficult lifestyle to escape. There are financial and emotional ties. Prostitution is intertwined with money. This money can become addictive. They can make a lot of money, but they don't know when their next pay cheque will be."

Rowley is adamant that decriminalising prostitution is not the way forward. "It is only making businessmen out of pimps, " she said. "They are still exploiting women." She disagrees with Fawkes' comment that prostitution in Australia had not increased, and insists the government and brothel owners there are supporting a billion-dollar industry. After prostitution was legalised in Australia in the '80s, the number of brothels increased from 40 to 94 over the following decade.

And, according to Australia's Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, there has been an "explosion of sexual exploitation in the industry".

Still, Australian brothel owners maintain their establishments are professionally run, and that they take pride in maintaining the highest standards possible. There are even Australian Adult Industry Awards (AAIA) that are held every year to boost a brothel's reputation and gain extra publicity, while professional websites are also available. Websites by the Black Cat in Sydney, and the 'six-star' brothel The Boardroom in Melbourne, provide men with complete tours of their rooms and offer names and descriptions of the women available. Advertisements for the Irish students appearing on the website of Club 316 run along the lines of 'Absolutely beautiful brunette with amazing eyes. She is 19 years old, has waist-length hair and light complexion. Available Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.'

Men would then request to see the girls in person before deciding on who they want for the hour.

But no matter how safe these brothels claim to be, Ruhama's Geraldine Rowley says there is always an element of risk involved for the girls.

"Among sex workers, there are still underlying anxieties, such as trying to keep the job a secret, and worrying about getting a disease or becoming pregnant, " she said.

There is also the threat of being raped, beaten up or even murdered, as one Irish prostitute in a Ruhama study pointed out. "Most of the time, they [the men] had such charm that you'd think they were genuine, just going for the sex, " she said.

"And then the slightest, simplest thing and their personalities would change. Some girls had regular clients for years and they'd suddenly change."

Kate described Sydney's red light district as safe for the most part, but said, "If you look for trouble, you'll find it." The culture of Australia is vastly different to Ireland's, she said. "Even in the pubs of the Outback, you would find girls ready to take their top off for money. They were called Skimpy Girls. Prostitutes are much more accepted there. It's a very macho culture."