Victoria will join a growing list of jurisdictions in the world to decriminalise the sex industry if state MPs adopt recommendations aimed at safeguarding workers and reducing stigma.

Andrews government ministers are considering legislative reforms that Consumer Affairs Minister Melissa Horne said would protect sex workers.

Consumer Affairs Minister Melissa Horne.Credit:Justin McManus

“Sex work is a legitimate form of work and should be regulated through standard business laws, like all other industries in the state,” Ms Horne said.

“Decriminalising sex work in Victoria will ensure it’s safe work – a basic human right that everyone deserves.”

Ms Horne said the government was working towards the decriminalisation of the industry as a priority.

“Decriminalisation is the best option to maximise sex workers’ safety, health and human rights, while also reducing stigma and fear of criminal repercussions in the industry,” she said.

The proposed changes stem from a 2019 parliamentary review of laws governing sex work, led by Reason Party MP Fiona Patten.

The review recommends a full decriminalisation of the industry, including street-based sex work, and regulating it through the Occupational Health and Safety Act, with WorkSafe taking over from Victoria Police as regulator.

Street-based sex work is a crime in Victoria, but selling sexual services at registered brothels and escort agencies or as a private sex worker is permitted under strict licensing conditions. However, sex workers have said navigating the system is complex and the legislation is often confusing, leaving people vulnerable to prosecution.

Advocates and opponents of decriminalisation recognise that existing laws are archaic and must be updated, but are divided on ways to modernise the rules and safeguard workers against exploitation.

Vixen Collective advocacy co-ordinatior Dylan O’Hara said decriminalising the industry was a crucial step in ensuring sex workers had access to the same basic human rights as all other Victorians.Credit:Chris Hopkins

Dylan O’Hara, an advocacy co-ordinator at Vixen Collective, a peer-only sex worker organisation, who uses the honorific Mx, said decriminalisation would not instantly remove the stigma and discrimination associated with the industry but it was a crucial step to give sex workers the same “basic human rights” as all other Victorians.

“Here in Victoria, we have a failed set of laws, we have a licensing system and a framework that causes huge amounts of harm to Victorian sex workers,” Mx O’Hara said.

“We have a set of laws in Victoria that divide the sex industry into a two-tiered system, where basically workers who are unable to comply with these complex, unworkable and dangerous laws are forced to operate outside of the legal framework, which leaves them open to police targeting, contact with courts and lifelong discrimination.”

But the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia, which made a submission to the review, argued decriminalising the industry and repealing existing laws would “leave women open to more exploitation and make them more vulnerable”.

The group’s public officer, Tegan Larin, said: “Our core problem is that this is not the same as any other type of work – it’s not the same as other low-skilled type of work.

“It’s a really specific thing and it is based on sexual exploitation. It is incredibly gendered, and we know it’s mostly women being prostituted and mostly men who are clients.

“Victoria’s trying to achieve gender equality and trying to have equal representation yet maintain and legitimise through decriminalisation the sex industry that’s based on gender inequality. How are we ever going to move forward as a nation?”

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia advocated that the inquiry investigate the Nordic model, which makes it illegal for other people to profit off sex work as a third party but does not criminalise buying and selling sex.

While in theory, the model is designed to stop pimping, sex workers say it makes it harder for them to work safely and perpetuates discrimination. Amnesty International, the World Health Organisation and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS opposed the Nordic model.

A spokeswoman for Collingwood brothel Le Boudoir, Stephanie, who declined to use her last name, urged the state government to put brothels on the same playing field as other businesses.

She said it could take the Business Licensing Authority more than a year to assess licensing applications, making it harder for people to buy and sell brothels.

Reason Party MP Fiona Patten has long advocated the decriminalisation of sex work.Credit:Justin McManus

“The competition is already out there because there is a huge amount of illegal brothels and a huge amount of illegal workers, so the competition is already there,” Stephanie said.

“Being illegal, they have no restrictions on advertising or other things like that, whereas being legal we do have restrictions, so I don’t think it will make a huge difference competition wise.”

The Reason Party’s Ms Patten handed the report on the issue to the state government late last year. The former sex worker said the industry had been marginalised, stigmatised and discriminated against for too long.

“This is a valid form of work, it provides a valid service, it’s a service that people want, and we should not be judging people because of the occupation they choose,” Ms Patten said.

“If someone chooses to provide sexual services for money, we should be providing as much safety and protection around that – the same as we do if someone plays football for living, if somebody wants to cut hair for a living.”

The review recommends that planning laws be amended to establish “non-discriminatory” requirements for sex-work businesses, advertising laws specifically targeting sex work should be repealed and that historical sex-work offences as well as registration and licensing records should be expunged.

Other recommendations include funding peer sex-worker organisations to promote health and safe-sex practices;creating sex-work liaison officer positions within Victoria Police; advocating to the Commonwealth to ensure migrant sex workers are not disadvantaged with their immigration status; and funding programs to support people who want to transition out of street-based sex work.

The review also recommends a statutory review of decriminalisation, between three and five years after it has passed Parliament, to assess its impact on the industry, as well as its effectiveness in reducing stigma and improving the safety of sex workers.

The state government has not yet decided whether to accept all the recommendations of the report, but is considering the findings and drafting legislation.

The support of at least three crossbench MPs will be needed to pass the bill in the upper house. Ms Patten, Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick and Greens leader Samantha Ratnam have all indicated they support decriminalisation but are awaiting details on the draft legislation.

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