Prostitution legislation is a State and Territory responsibility and differs widely. This page has a State by State summary with links to the relevant legislation and regulatory body if it exists as well as some background information. Legislation is reviewed from time to time and updates on the current push for decriminalisation can be found here. The Sex Work Decriminalisation Act will see the implementaion of full decriminalisation occur in two stages. The first stage, to take place as soon as the Bill become law wil involve repealing or amending certain parts of the Sex Work Act and amending other legislation.
In particular, street work will no longer be illegal and various health measures such as condom use will no longer apply. The second stage, to be completed by December involves the actual repeal of the Sex Work Act as well as various amendments to other acts.
The repeal of the Sex Work Act removes the registration of sex work businesses as well as allowing for the sale of alcohol in brothels. A summary of the major isssues can be found here. Although it was tacitly tolerated earlier, the first legislation to legalise brothel prostitution in Victoriawas passed in , via the Planning Brothels Act Significant attention over the ensuing decade led to the Prostitution Control Act Brothels are regulated through Consumer Affairs Victoria as are, for example, estate agents and motor vehicle traders.
Street prostitution remains illegal. The aim of legalisation was to remove the involvement of organised crime in the industry and to protect women through regulation and licensing. There is widespread agreement that legalisation has failed. Prostitution in NSW is decriminalised, with brothels coming under local council planning regulations like any other business. Several variations were made to the regulation of prostitution over the following decades, until the Disorderly Houses Amendment Act , which decriminalised brothel prostitution and moved brothels into the sphere of local planning.
Some activities remain illegal, such as the exploitation of children in prostitution. The details of prostitution-related offences are found in the Summary Offences Act Part 3.
