I have been watching the third series of Underbelly: The Golden Mile and many people I know have said that there is no way that the main character Kim can be accepted into the police force when her previous employment was as a prostitute. The Underbelly series is based on real life incidents, people and places. The third series is set in the heart of Sydney’s Kings Cross area and sees police officers, drug dealers and nightclub owners all living out of each other’s pockets.

That got me thinking, the Underbelly series is based on real life incidents, people and places. The third series is set in the heart of Sydney’s Kings Cross area and sees police officers, drug dealers and nightclub owners all living out of each other’s pockets. The uneasy alliance is tolerated on the understanding that no one dies and everyone gets paid. Things start to go downhill when two policewomen join the police team. One is raped by the police and the other, Debbie Webb, becomes a whistleblower, but then the gravy train flows to the top of the NSW police force and she is ostracized.

In the series, Webb befriends prostitute Kim Hollingsworth and in one scene has them sunbathing naked on a Sydney beach. The two become disgusted with corruption and work to bring justice to Kings Cross Police and assist with the Royal Commission to the NSW Police Force. Hollingsworth quits the game and enrolls in the police academy. Shortly after passing the entrance exam, she is asked to help some officers open their own brothel. This is where we are today, Hollingsworth goes undercover to get evidence on the bad cops.

Could this really happen? Well the answer is yes. Kim Michelle Hollingsworth (born 1966) was formerly a prostitute, student police officer, and undercover agent. However, she was fired from the New South Wales Police Academy for not revealing her past life. Her ten-year legal battle for restitution was ultimately unsuccessful. Thanks to the publicity surrounding Underbelly, she has been featured in Zoo Weekly magazine. Now that she is 44 years old, she still looks totally stunning in a bikini and would still get premium dollars for her services. She has definitely made it to the top after a stormy life in Sydney and now spends her time tending horses on her farm.

So to my question, a prostitute cannot become a police officer, at least not in Australia.