Prostitution in Australia
[12] New South Wales decriminalized street-based sex work in 1979, using a model subsequently adopted by jurisdictions such as New Zealand, and made brothels legal in 1995.
Some of the women transported to Australia had previously worked in prostitution, while others chose the profession due to economic circumstances, and a severe imbalance of the sexes.
[31][32] Following South Korea passing its Anti-prostitution Law and subsequent crackdowns on brothels and prostitution, many Korean sex workers moved abroad, including to Australia.
It was implemented in 1999[39] the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,[40] to which it is a party.
[46] Sex workers and brothel owners were required to register with the Office of Regulatory Services (ORS), subsequently Access Canberra, as were escort agencies, including sole operators.
[50] The Alliance requested changes that would allow sex workers to work together, the removal of registration (which is rarely complied with),[51] and the repeal of sections 24 and 25 dealing with sexually transmitted diseases.
In the October 2012 elections the opposition Liberals campaigned on a platform to oppose allowing more than one sex worker to use a premise in suburban areas[64] but were not successful in preventing a further term of the ALP Green alliance.
[21] In 1848 the Sydney Female Refuge Society was set up in Pitt Street to care for prostitutes; its buildings were demolished in 1901 to make way for the new Central Railway Station.
But almost immediately, community pressure started to build for additional safeguards, particularly in Darlinghurst,[21] although police still utilised other legislation such as the Offences in Public Places Act 1979 for unruly behaviour.
Although the committee had recommended relaxing the soliciting laws, the new Greiner Liberal government tightened these provisions further in 1988 through the Summary Offences Act in response to community pressure.
[84] The first report of the Escort Agency Licensing Board in 1993 recommended further reform, but the Government did not accept this, feeling there would be widespread opposition to legalising brothels.
[93] In November 2022, the NT Government passed the Anti-Discrimination Amendment Bill giving full protection of sex workers making it the first region in the world to do so.
[96][97] Much emphasis was placed in colonial Queensland on the role of immigration and the indigenous population in introducing and sustaining prostitution, while organisations such as the Social Purity Society described what they interpreted as widespread female depravity.
In 1842, within six years of the founding of the colony, it was reported that there were now "large numbers of females who are living by a life of prostitution in the city of Adelaide, out of all proportion to the respectable population".
[112] Following the scandal described by WT Stead in the UK, there was much discussion of the white slave trade in Adelaide, and with the formation of the Social Purity Society of South Australia in 1882 along similar lines to that in other countries, similar legislation to the UK Criminal Law Consolidation Amendment Act 1885 was enacted, making it an offence to procure the defilement of a female by fraud or threat (the 1885 Protection of Young Persons Act).
He had been considered to have a better chance of success than the previous initiatives due to a "sunrise clause" which would set a time frame for a parliamentary debate prior to it coming into effect.
[120] No further attempts to reform the law were made for some time, however in 2010 a governing Labor backbencher and former minister, Stephanie Key, announced she would introduce a private members decriminalisation bill.
[138] The Bill passed the upper house on 6 July 2017 but did not proceed past a second reading on 19 October 2017 in the Assembly, due to prorogation prior to the election the following March, which led to a change of government.
[145] Prostitution has existed in Tasmania (known as Van Diemen's Land prior to 1856) since its early days as a penal colony, when large numbers of convict women started arriving in the 1820s.
[152] Consultation with agencies, local government, interested persons and organisations occurred during 2004, resulting in the Sex Industry Regulation Bill 2004 being tabled in Parliament in June 2005.
The Vagrant Act 1852[169] included prostitution as riotous and indecent behaviour carrying a penalty of imprisonment for up to 12 months with the possibility of hard labour (Part II, s 3).
[195] An advisory group was founded in March 2001 by the Attorney-General at the time, Rob Hulls, which solely examined the issues pertaining to the City of Port Phillip, as the suburb of St. Kilda is a metropolitan location in which a significant level of street prostitution occurred.
The Advisory Group consisted of residents, traders, street-based sex workers, welfare agencies, the City of Port Phillip, the State Government and Victoria Police, and released the final report after a 12-month period.
... if implemented, will criminalise, marginalise and further hurt migrant and non- migrant sex workers in Victoria; a group who already face the most overbearing regulatory structures and health policies pertaining to sex workers in Australia, and enjoy occupational health and safety worse than that of their criminalised colleagues (Western Australia) and far behind those in a decriminalised setting (New South Wales).
In addition, hoteliers, casinos, taxi drivers, clothing manufacturers and retailers, newspapers, advertising agencies, and other logically related businesses profit from prostitution in the state.
[200] Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia (CATWA) members Sheila Jeffreys and Mary Sullivan in a 2001 article criticised the 1984 Labor government decision to legalise prostitution in Victoria.
[202]: 5–6 Sullivan's study stated that the sex industry was run by six large companies, which tended to control a wide array of prostitution operations, making self-employment very difficult.
[202]: 7 Sullivan also alleged that legal businesses were commonly used by criminal elements as a front to launder money from human trafficking, underage prostitution, and other illicit enterprises.
[210] Legislation addressing prostitution in Western Australia dates from the introduction of English law in 1829, specifically prohibiting bawdy houses (Interpretation Act).
[248] Publication of the Bill did not shift the debate—which remained deeply polarised, with any legalisation bitterly opposed by conservative religious groups—despite Porter's assurances that his government did not condone sex work.
