Trigger Warning: This article discusses sexual assault and harassment.
Staff at top Sydney nightspot Ivy must agree to sign non-disclosure agreements if they work on a floor for VIPs at the club, it has been claimed.
The allegation, which has been put to Ivy’s parent company Merivale, was made after revelations young women patrons were ushered into a VIP area and were left with male patrons, who allegedly believed they were sex workers.
Central News’ investigation into Sydney’s nightlife culture that can place women in dangerous situations, can also reveal another account of a similar incident about an unnamed Sydney club was posted on TikTok in January.
The viral video, which now has 285,000 views and over 1500 saves, details claims that a group of young women were pushed into a private elevator by a security guard at an undisclosed nightclub and taken to a level that none of them had seen before.
TikToker Georgia Yiannari claimed once the elevator doors opened, the group found themselves in a room resembling a ‘staff lunchroom’. She claimed the room was full of ‘seccys’ [security guards], “sitting there waiting for us”.
“You know like when you’re so drunk, and when you just feel that the vibes just aren’t there, like off? You just sober up,” she said. “So, I just sobered up, right. And I’m like, I’m not f—–g staying here.”
She also claimed that after telling the men she wanted to leave, one of them approached her, grabbing her wrist and told her, “if you leave, you’re banned for life, so pick one”.
Straight away, we were handed drinks and these light sticks… Then the man who took us there, started taking photos of us with these men.
Central News does not suggest the allegation in the TikTok relates to Ivy or any other Merivale establishment; there is no evidence to suggest where the incident occurred, and social media comments on the piece are only speculation.
Central News does not suggest any employee of Ivy or Merivale has committed a crime or done anything illegal.
Jessica Helinski, a law student from the University of Technology Sydney, who is at the centre of allegations about Merivale, said she and a friend were mistaken for sex workers and taken to a VIP area at the club, putting them in a vulnerable position.
She told Central News after sitting her and her friend down with the men, who were unknown to the women, the employee took out his mobile phone and took a picture of the group before leaving. When the women later went to exit the club, the same employee asked them why they weren’t where they should be with the men, Helinski added.
The 22-year-old recounted the incident in full, which happened on a Saturday night on March 9, earlier this year.
Helinski said on a night out with friends she headed to Ivy, one of Sydney’s most popular nightlife venues, but after spending some time there, she and one of her friends were separated from the group. While searching for them, the pair were approached by a male member of staff, who Central News is not naming but has identified as being employed by Merivale at the time. The man who identified himself as a staff member to the women offered to help them find their friends in a different precinct of the club.
After agreeing to let the staff member assist them in relocating their friends, the man led the pair through the club towards a private elevator.
In an interview with Central News, Helinski said: “These girls put these wristbands on us, and we followed him into the private lift, which wasn’t accessible to the public … then we were taken into a back-of-house area.
“That’s when I was like to my friend ‘something is really off … this just feels really weird’.”
After being escorted through the back-of-house area, the women found themselves behind the DJ decks on the bottom floor of the Ivy in a roped-off VIP section.
“There were two booths there, and we were directed to the first booth, which had about four or five men sitting there. The staff member told my friend to sit on one side, and I was sat on the other…Straight away, we were handed drinks and these light sticks… Then the man who took us there, started taking photos of us with these men, and then he left.”
Central News has contacted Merivale, questioning whether it is standard practice for Merivale or Ivy staff to take photos of patrons on their phones in the VIP or any other club area. They are yet to reply to our questions.
Helinski doesn’t know where those photos went, whose phone they were taken on, or why. However, her conversation with the men after the staff member left made her question why she had been brought there.
“I went to lean over to my friend, and the man next to me said, ‘So how long have you been in this industry?’ and I said, ‘What industry?’” she said.
“’The sex industry. This man said that you’re sex workers and that he’d organised for you to spend the night with us’.”
Ivy nightclub is part of the Ivy Precinct in George Street. Picture: supplied.
After making it clear to the man that was not the case, he apologised to Helinski and her friend, telling them to leave because they were “not safe in this situation”. The two left the VIP section, located their friends and left the club, but not before bumping into the staff member again who Helinski said questioned why they had left the VIP section.
Inquiry
The following day, Helinski and her mother reported the night’s events to Merivale.
In an earlier interview from May, Helinski told Central News that after reporting the events to staff the women were told by Merivale a full investigation would be conducted on this event. On March 20 she received an email with the outcome of the internal investigation, which concluded: “The CCTV captured of Jess in the Ivy and the Ivy Pool Club does not show any untoward or inappropriate behaviour.
“No information to support the claims has been uncovered.”
Helinski did not get to see the footage, however Merivale told her it could be provided to the police to investigate.
ABC News also investigated the allegations. When questioned about the claims, Merivale told the ABC the CCTV footage was “plainly inconsistent with the allegations that form your questions” and the “assertion to the contrary is disingenuous”.
The matter was reported to the police by Helinski in April.
The ABC also confirmed the staff member at the centre of the complaint is overseas, and police are waiting for him to return to conduct interviews. Merivale was asked by Central News if any member of staff had ben disciplined over the incident, but received no response.
NSW police told the ABC: “Officers from Sydney City Police Area Command are conducting inquiries regarding an incident which is alleged to have occurred at a licensed premise on George Street, Sydney, on Saturday, 9 March 2024.
“As investigations are ongoing, police will not make any further comment.”
Forum
Following the incident, Helinski created an anonymous forum for women to come forward and share their experiences of sexual harassment or assault within the ‘Ivy Precinct or any of the Merivale Nightlife Venues”.
The survey was posted to her personal Instagram account, and within 24 hours, 48 people had submitted anonymous responses alleging incidents of sexual harassment, assault and drink spiking. That figure has now climbed to 60 since the ABC broke the story earlier this week.
Among the claims were that staff had to sign NDAs before working on a floor that was exclusively for VIPs. Merivale was asked by Central News if the allegation was true, but has declined to comment.
Women were put in high-risk situations … When I created the anonymous forum, I was seeing how repetitive that response was.
Speaking with Central News in May, Helinski said she wasn’t surprised by the number of responses received in such a small window of time.
“This was a big red flag, but I wasn’t shocked,” she said. “Everyone that I spoke to about my experience would reply with ‘Oh yeah, something similar happened to me, or something happened to a friend’.”
While she received responses from staff and patrons, Helinski claimed the responses from those claiming to be Merivale staff showed “predominantly, women were put in high-risk situations”.
“When I created the anonymous forum, I was seeing how repetitive that response was,” she said.
“It wasn’t a specific venue. What was concerning is that they (Merivale) have basically monopolised all of Sydney, so you don’t really get a choice [where to go].”
Merivale owns over 90 brands and venues and is a major player in Sydney’s entertainment and hospitality industry.
The decision to post the forum directly on her personal Instagram account was done for a specific reason Helinski said.
“I wanted people to know that this was a real-life person,” she added. “There are these programs and advocacy stuff… but there’s not a specific person who will say, ‘This happened to me, this is happening to me, and these are the consequences of those actions’.”
Since making the forum public, Helinski claims to have had countless women directly reach out with stories of their complaints being dismissed.
“A lot of people have said this is really comforting to hear because I thought I was alone, or like it was my fault that this situation occurred, or I didn’t think it was that bad because it happened in a nightlife venue,” she said.
The decision has also had its negatives though.
“Emotionally, I definitely took it on,” she said. “As much as I feel emotional about what is going on, I also feel glad that I did what I did because it’s [the forum responses], not just going to an anonymous organisation.
“By having my name out there, people know it was me rather than just a screen.
“If I had another account, I’d attract a certain audience … I like that I’m educating boys my age who maybe wouldn’t follow a sexual assault advocacy page, but they want to follow me because I’m their friend. That’s the good thing about this.”
Main image of Jessica Helinski by Genevieve Blandin de Chalain.
