Penny has been a sex worker for about five years.
"(I) did a trial shift, and, um, I was incredibly surprised at how natural and normal it was to engage in a sensual service with someone. And at the end of the day, I left with $400 and my rent and bills were covered. And that's basically how I got into it."
We meet in a quiet home in the western suburbs of Adelaide.
She is in her 20s, the daughter of European migrants.
She had originally trained as a massage therapist but says she was not earning much money.
Then a change in circumstances meant she needed more money, fast.
"My boyfriend and I broke up, and I was alone in an apartment, and I really needed money. And then I went onto Gumtree and basically just started scrolling for jobs, and I came across a massage parlour."
Penny is not her real name, and she does not want to be identified, because sex work is illegal in South Australia.
She could face fines or jail time for spending the money she earns from sex.
"It's scary. Will I be arrested the next time I work? I don't know."
State Liberal Party MLC Michelle Lensink has been working on a bill to decriminalise sex work in the state.
She hopes it will pass through the state's Legislative Council this week.
"South Australia's laws are probably amongst the most restrictive in the country. It's been a very long time since there's been any changes made to them, and even the police here have said many times over the years that the laws are very difficult to police. So they don't work for anybody."
Sex work remains criminalised in South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.
It is legalised or licensed in Victoria, Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
South Australia is considering following the New South Wales model and decriminalising the industry.
That means prostitution would be recognised as a legitimate business.
Local councils would regulate premises where sex work takes place, and sex workers like Penny would have the same rights and responsibilities as other workers.
They would pay taxes and have access to employee services.
Sharon Jennings manages the Sex Industry Network in South Australia, which advocates for those in the industry.
She says decriminalisation would make a huge difference to the lives of sex workers.
"We could have work health-and-safety rights. We could go see Fair Work Australia if we weren't being treated in an equitable manner. It would start to break down the stigma, as well, because the stigma is not just around the fact that we're having intimate liaisons, it's around the fact that we're criminalised."
Not everyone in South Australia wants to see the bill pass.
Rob Brokenshire of the Australian Conservatives party says he will not be voting for it.
"What I say is that, if you decriminalise prostitution in South Australia, you give a legal opportunity to organised crime, to bikie gangs and to those that have been making money running the brothels to actually get a green tick that it's okay to do that."
He says he favours the Nordic model, which criminalises the buying of sex rather than the selling.
"The reality is that, when you decriminalise prostitution, you actually have growth in prostitution. What we want to do is see an opportunity for women to be helped out of the industry, and Australia Conservatives will be introducing another bill, the Nordic model, which is a bill that targets the purchaser of the service. In Europe, in Canada and in France where they have a Nordic model, they've seen a significant reduction in prostitution. And I would have thought all people would like to see that happen here in South Australia."
Penny is not in favour of the Nordic model -- nor of being helped out of the industry.
"They kind of disguise it as wanting to save or help sex workers. However, it's like they never stopped to think that we actually are autonomous, that, a lot of the time, we choose the work that we do, and that we need a job and this is the way that we do it. So just, if you want to help us, help us create a safer environment to work in."
The bill will go to a vote in the South Australian legislative council on Wednesday, July 5.
