Prostitution in Australia
Encyclopedia
Prostitution in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably; and Federal legislation also has an impact on some aspects of prostitution throughout Australia, and of Australian citizens and residents outside of the country.
Most Australian states and territories have liberalized their laws in the late twentieth century. However, this process has been restricted by upper houses of Parliament of several States, with legislation either being defeated or extensively amended. Nearly all states and territories have attempted some form of liberalisation.
Australia adopted the Contagious Diseases Acts
of the United Kingdom between 1868 and 1879 in an attempt to control venereal disease in the military, requiring compulsory inspection of women suspected of prostitution, and could include incarceration in a lock-hospital.
Despite being a confederation
, criminal law was left in the hands of the States. However criminal law relating to prostitution only dates from around 1910. These laws did not make the act of prostitution illegal, but did criminalise many activities related to prostitution. These laws were based on English laws passed between 1860-1885 and related to soliciting, age restrictions, brothel keeping and leasing accommodation.
A report produced by the Australian Institute of Criminology
in May of 1990 recommended that prostitution not be a criminal offence, since the current laws were ineffective and endangered sex workers.
A survey conducted in the early 2000s showed that 15.6% of Australian men aged 16–59 have paid for sex at least once in their life and 1.9% had done so in the past year. Men who had paid for sex were more likely than other men to smoke, to drink more alcohol, to have had a sexually transmitted infection or been tested for HIV, to have more sexual partners, to have first had vaginal intercourse before 16, and to have had heterosexual anal intercourse.
is unknown. Estimates given to a 2004 parliamentary inquiry into sexual servitude in Australia ranged from 300 to 1000 trafficked women annually.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Trafficking in persons: global patterns lists Australia as one of 21 trafficking destination countries in the high destination category.
Australia is not a party to the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of 1949. It has implemented in 1999 the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
, to which it is a party. Australia has also ratified on 8 January 2007 the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, which requires it to prohibit, besides other things, child prostitution. For the purpose of the Protocol, a child is any human being under the age of 18, unless an earlier age of majority is recognized by a country's law. In all Australian jurisdictions, the minimum age at which a person can engage in prostitution is 18 years.
(ACT) consisted of "containment and control" under the Police Offences Act 1930
Police Offences Act 1930
This prohibited keeping a brothel, persistently soliciting in a public place, or living on the earnings of prostitution. This law was not enforced. In 1991 a report entitled Prostitution in the ACT: Interim Report (Australian Capital Territory) was produced by the Select Committee on HIV, Illegal Drugs and Prostitution describing the then state of the industry, the shortcomings of the law, and the possible reforms available. having considered the example of other Australian States that had adopted various other models, the committee recommended decriminalization, which occurred in the 1992 Prostitution Act.
(Collaery 1991).
Prostitution Act 1992 (ACT)
brothels are legal, but sex workers are required to register with the Office of Regulatory Services (ORS).
Office of Regulatory Services: Sex Industry
The ORS also registers and regulates brothels and escort agencies. Sex workers may work privately but must work alone. Soliciting remains illegal (Section 19).
Subsequent amending acts include the Prostitution Amendment Act 2002
Prostitution Amendment Act 2002 (ACT)
and the Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2011
Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2011
(Part 1.7), a minor administrative amendment.
Sex trade laws under review. ABC News 1 Oct 2010
The inquiry was established on 28 October 2010. The committtee's terms of reference are as follows:
Inquiry into Prostitution Act: Terms of Reference
and is chaired by Liberal MLA Vicki Dunne
.
Written submissions were required by 26 February 2011 at which time 58 submissions had been received.
Inquiry into Prostitution Act: Submissions
Submissions to the committee include Scarlet Alliance
.
Scarlet Alliance submission to the Standing Committee on Justice 2011
The Alliance requests changes that would allow sex workers to work together, the removal of registration (which is rarely complied with),
and the repeal of sections 24 and 25 dealing with sexually transmitted diseases. The Eros Association, which represents the industry is also calling for removal of registration and for an expansion into residential areas.
Sex trade eyes the suburbs. Canberra Times March 2011
As in other States and Territories, conservative Christian groups such as the Australian Christian Lobby
(ACL) have called for criminalising clients.
ACL appears at ACT prostitution inquiry. ACL 11 May 2011
Push to criminalise paying prostitutes. Canberra Times 12 May 2011
Groups supporting this position include the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Australia.
Review into prostitution must benefit women not business ABC 21 March 2011
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia
sex workers have argued against this.
Don't use the Swedish model for ACT sex workers. Canberra Times 19 May 2011
The Catholic Church has also opposed it.
Ms Dunne has stated that the committee is considering exit schemes
No exit programs for Canberra sex workers. ABC April 2011
however Attorney-General Simon Corbell
has stated that it is unlikely there will be any substantive changes to the status quo.
Unregulated sex industry 'hard to gauge'. ABC 23 March 2011
Canberra suburbia a no-go zone for brothels. Canberra Times 24 May 2011
The most recent committee hearing on evidence was on 13 July 2011.
Hansard committee transcripts: Justice 13 July 2011
SWOP ACT
has the most liberal legislation on prostitution in Australia, with almost complete decriminalisation, and has has acted as a model for other jurisdictions such as New Zealand
.
Brothels are legal in New South Wales
, under the Summary Offences Act 1988.
Summary Offences Act 1988
The only activities that are illegal are:
According to a 2009 report in the Daily Telegraph
illegal brothels in Sydney
outnumbered licensed operations by four to one.
NSW papers urged to cut brothel ads, ABC news 18 May 2009
inherited much of the problems of port cities, penal colonies and the gender imbalance of colonial life. Initially there was little specific legislaion aimed at prostitution, but prostitutes could be charged under vagrancy provisions if their behaviour drew undue attention (Perkins 1991). The 1859 Select Committee into the Condition of the Working Classes of the Metropolis described widespread prostitution. Nineteenth century legislation included the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1883 and Police Offences Act 1901. Attempts to pass contagious diseases legislation were resisted, and unlike other States, legislative control was minimal till the general attack on 'vice' of the first decade of the twentieth century which resulted in the Police Offences Amendment Act 1908, and the Prisoners Detention Act. Street prostitution was controlled by the Vagrancy Act 1902 (sec. 4[1][c]) (Perkins 1991) enabling a woman to be arrested as a 'common prostitute'. This was strengthened by an amendment of the Police Offences (Amendment) Act 1908, which also prohibited living on the earnings.
The Vagrancy Act was further strengthened in 1968, making it an offence to 'loiter for the purpose of prostitution' (sec. 4 [1][k]). These provisions were then incorporated into the Summary Offences Act 1970, sec. 28.
In the 1970s an active debate about the need for liberalisation appeared, spearheaded by feminists and libertarians, culminating under the Wran
ALP government in the Prostitution Act 1979. Eventually New South Wales became a model for debates on liberalising prostitution laws. However almost immediately community pressure started to build for additional safeguards, particularly in Darlinghurst (Perkins 1991), although police still utilised other legislation such as the Offences In Public Places Act 1979 for unruly behaviour. Eventually this led to a subsequent partial recriminalisation of street work with the Prostitution (Amendment) Act 1983, of which s8A stipulates that;
(1) A person in a public street shall not, near a dwelling, school, church or hospital, solicit another person for the purpose of prostitution …
(2) A person shall not, in a school, church or hospital, solicit another person for the purpose of prostitution.
This resulted in Darlinghurst street workers relocating (Perkins 1991).
Further decriminalisation of premises followed with the
Disorderly Houses (Amendment) Act 1995 (NSW)
putting into place of recommendations from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Prostitution (1983-6). 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.
The current regulatory framework is based on the Crimes Act 1900,
Crimes Act 1900
Disorderly Houses Act 1943 (renamed Restricted Premises Act in 2002), Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, and Summary Offences Act 1988. The suburbs of King's Cross
in Sydney
and Islington
in Newcastle
have been traditional hotbeds for prostitution. New South Wales is the only Australian state that legalizes street prostitution
. However community groups in those locations continue to push for re-criminalisation.
NSW prostitution laws 'ambiguous, contradictory'. ABC June 15 2009
announced that it would make prostitution reform part of its campaign for the March 2011 State election
. The plan would involve a new licensing authority following revelations that the sex industry had been expanding and operating illegal as well as legal premises. The Liberals claimed that organised crime and coercion were part of the NSW brothel scene.
Liberal brothel police to take sleaze out of sex. Daily Telegraph 22 December 2010
The last reform was in 2007, with the Brothels Legislation Act.
Brothels Legislation Act 2007
The Liberals were duly elected as the new Government in that election.
under the Prostitution Regulation Act 2004,
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/consol_act/pra317/ the Northern Territory Licensing Commission
http://www.nt.gov.au/justice/commission// can license Northern Territory residents for a licence to operate an escort agency business. Street work is illegal, while sole operators are legal and un-regulated. Sex workers have protested against the fact that the NT is the only part of Australia where workers have to register with the police.
Prostitution law puts sex workers at risk. ABC 14 May 2010
Any liberalisation is vigorously opposed by religious groups.
NT warned on opening floodgates to women trafficking The Record 17 June 2010
remained largely Aboriginal for much longer, and Europeans were predominantly male. Inevitably this brought European males into close proximity with Aboriginal women. There has been much debate as to whether the hiring of Aboriginal women (Black Velvet) as domestic labour but also as sexual partners constituted prostitution or not. Certainly these inter-racial liaisons attracted much criticism. Once the Commonwealth took over the territory from South Australia in 1911, it saw its role as protecting the indigenous population, and there was considerable debate about employment standards and the practice of 'consorting'. In 2004 The Suppression of Brothels Act 1907 (SA) in its application to the Territory was repealed by the Prostitution Regulation Act.
http://www.pla.qld.gov.au/
The PLA reports to the Crime and Misconduct Commission
(CMC), which reports to parliament.
There are two types of sex work that are legal in Queensland:
Guidelines about the Approved Form for Advertisements for Prostitution 2008
All other forms of sex work remain illegal, including more than one worker sharing a premise, street prostitution
, unlicensed brothels or massage parlours used for sex work, and outcalls from licensed brothels. The CMC continues to oppose outcall services,
Prostitution and the Law in Queensland. Prostitution Licensing Authority 2006
CMC releases report on inquiry into Queensland escort services. CMC October 2006
although this is currently favoured by the PLA.
According to a 2009 report, only 10% of prostitution happens in the licensed brothels, the rest of 90% of prostitution remains either unregulated or illegal.
Queensland sex industry still largely illegitimate, Brisbane Times
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. Concerns led to the Act for the Suppression of Contagious Diseases 1868 and brothels were defined in section 231 of the Queensland Criminal Code in 1897. A further act relating to venereal disease control was the Health Act Amendment Act 1911.
The Fitzgerald Report
(Commission of Inquiry into “Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct") of 1989 led to widespread concern regarding the operation of the laws, and consequently a more specific inquiry (Criminal Justice Commission. Regulating morality? An inquiry into prostitution in Queensland) in 1991. This in turn resulted in two pieces of legislation, the Prostitution Laws Amendment Act 1992 and the Prostitution Act 1999.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/pa1999205/
Various amendments have been introduced, the most recent in August 2009.
Prostitution and other Acts Amendments Bill 2009
Prostitution and other Acts Amendments Bill 2009. Legislative Proceedings 18 August 2009
Prostitution and other Acts Amendments Bill 2009. Notes
However this Bill has not moved forward beyond second reading introduction.
There are continuing reports that an illegal sector continues to thrive.
Sex trade explodes. Courier-Mail 30 January 2011
, under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 - s. 5
and the Summary Offences Act 1953.
Summary Offences Act 1953
Prostitution is not illegal, but the receiving of money, soliciting and procuring is, which makes it illegal in effect.
laws throughout the British Empire. This offence attracting between one and three months imprisonment with hard labour, remained the effective legislation for most of the remainder of the century, although it made little impact despite harsher penal;ties enacted in 1863 and 1869.
Social Reform in South Australia: Sex Industry. State Library
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).
Exploring democracy: Lee, Mary
Opinions were divided as to whether to address the issue of prostitution by social reform and 'prevention', or by legislation, and many debates were held concerning the need for licensing and regulation.
The Twentieth century saw the Suppression of Brothels Bill 1907, the Venereal Diseases Act of 1920, the Police Act 1936 and Police Offences Act 1953.
. The Evidence Act 1978 was amended to allow witness immunity
The committee report (1980) recommended decriminalisation. Robin Millhouse
's (former Liberal
Attorney-General, but then a new LM
and finally Democrat
MLA) introduced (27 February 1980) a bill entitled "A Bill for an Act to give effect to the recommendations of the Select Committee of Inquiry into prostitution." It generated considerable opposition in the community and failed on a tied vote in the Assembly on 11 February 1981.
A further bill was introduced in 1986 (Carolyn Pickles ALP MLC 1985–2002) but dropped on 18th March 1987 due to Liberal opposition and community pressure, with a 13-2 vote.
A number of issues kept sex work in the public eye during 1990 and 1991. The next development occurred on 8 February 1991 when Ian Gilfillan
(Australian Democrat
MLC 1982-3) stated he would introduce a decriminalisation private members bill. He did so on 10 April 1991 but it met opposition from groups such as the Uniting Church and it lapsed when parliament recessed for the winter. Although he introduced a similar bill on 21 August 1991 but on 29 April 1992 a moption passed that resulted in the bill being withdrawn in favour of a reference to the Social Development Committee, although little was achieved by the latter during this time.
Another bill came in 1993 and then Mark Brindal
, a Liberal
backbencher, produced a discussion paper on decriminalisation in November 1994, and on 9 February 1995 he introduced a private member's bill (Prostitution (Decriminalisation) Bill) to decriminalise prostitution and the Prostitution Regulation Bill on February 23rd. 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. He twice attempted to get decriminalisation bills passed, although his party opposed this.
Prostitution debated in South Australia. Green Left Weekly 22 February 1995
The Decriminalisation) Bill was discharged on July 6, but the Regulation Bill was lost on a conscience vote 16 to 28 on July 27th.
Meanwhile the Committee released its final report on 21 August 1996,
Report of the Inquiry into Prostitution (SA)
but it was not till 25 March 1998 that Terry Cameron
MLC (ALP 1995-2006) introduced a bill based on it. It had little support and lapsed when parliament recessed.
The Liberal Police Minister, Robert Brokenshire
, introduced four Bills in 1999, the Prostitution (Licensing) Bill 1999, the Prostitution (Registration) Bill 1999, the Prostitution (Regulation) Bill 1999 and the Summary Offences (Prostitution) Bill 1999, to revise the laws and decriminalise prostitution. The Prostitution (Regulation) Bill was passed by the House of Assembly
and received by the Legislative Council
on 13 July 2000, but defeated on 17 July 2001, 12:7.
The Bill was also supported by the Australian Democrats
.
Hon Sandra Knack. Speech Legislative Council 10 October 2000
The then Minister for the status of Women, Diana Laidlaw
is said to have neen moved to tears, and called her colleagues "gutless". Another MLC, Sandra Kanck
(Australian Democrat 1993-2009) angrily stated that sex workers had been "thrown to the wolves by Parliament".
Round seven on sex industry laws. Adelaide Now Sept 27 2011
No further attempts to reform the law have been 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.
MP moves to decriminalise prostitution in South Australia, given widespread public support and support within all parties. Adelaide Now 2 June 2010
Drive for 'equality' laws for South Australia's sex workers. Adelaide Now 30 October 2010
Religious groups immediately organised opposition,
although the opposition Liberals have promised to consider it.
Sydney Morning Herald 2 June 2011
However consultations with the industry have continued
Push for decriminalisation of prostitution. ABC 1 November 2010
and in June 2011 she outlined her intended legislation. This would amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 and the Summary Offences Act 1953 to ensure sex workers have the same industrial rights and responsibilities as other workers, that minors under the age of 18 years are not involved in or associated with sex work, preventing sex services premises from being established within 200m of schools, centres for children or places of worship, allowing local government to regulate public amenity, noise, signage and location in relation to sex services premises with more than three workers, promote safe sex education and practice by clients and sex workers, and enable sex workers to report criminal matters to the police like in a similar matter to other citizens.
Let's give our sex workers modern rights. Adelaide Now 23 June 2011
She presented her proposals to the Caucus in September 2011,
SA MPs consider changes to prostitution laws. ABC Sept 27 2011
and has tabled a motion for November 24 2011 "That she have leave to introduce a Bill for an Act to decriminalise prostitution and regulate the sex work industry; to amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935, the Equal Opportunity Act 1984, the Fair Work Act 1994, the Summary Offences Act 1953 and the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986; and for other purpose".
Notice Paper 76. Private Members Business: Bills. Nov 24 2011.
The proposal is opposed by the Family First Party
that has ten per cent of the votes in the Legislative Council
, where Robert Brokenshire now opposes decriminalisation. However Police Commissioner, Mal Hyde, has stated that the laws need to change.
since its early days as a penal colony, when large numbers of convict women started arriving in the 1820s. Some of the women who were transported there already had criminal records related to prostitution. Prostitution was not so much a profession as a way of life for some women to make ends meet, particularly in a society in which there was a marked imbalance of gender, and convict women had no other means of income. Certainly brothels were established by the end of the 1820s, and records show girls as young as 12 were involved. Nevertheless, the concept of 'fallen women' and division of women into 'good' and 'bad' was well established. The Van Diemen's Land Asylum for the Protection of Destitute and Unfortunate Females (1848) was the first establishment for women so designated. Other attempts were the Penitent's Homes and Magdalen Asylums as rescue missions. In 1879 like other British colonies, Tasmania passed a Contagious Diseases Act (based on similar UK legislation of the 1860s), and established Lock Hospitals in an attempt to prevent venereal diseases amongst the armed forces, at the instigation of the Royal Navy. The Act ceased to operate in 1903 in the face of repeal movements. However there was little attempt to suppress prostitution itself. What action there was against prostitution was mainly to keep it out of the public eye, using vagrancy laws. Otherwise the police ignored or colluded with prostitution.
More specific legislation dates from the early twentieth century, such as the Criminal Code Act 1924 (Crimes against Morality), and the Police Offences Act 1935. Efforts to reform legislation that was clearly ineffective began in the 1990s. Prior to the 2005 Act, soliciting by a prostitute, living on the earnings of a prostitute, keeping a disorderly house and letting a house to a tenant to use as a disorderly house were criminal offences. Sole workers were not illegal in Tasmania, nor was escort work which was the main form of prostitution in the State. Many workers were seasonal.
Reform was suggested by a government committee in 1999.
Committee report on the need for legislative regulation and reform of the sex industry 1999 (Tas)
In December 2002 Cabinet agreed to the drafting of legislation and in September 2003, approved the release of the draft Sex Industry Regulation Bill for consultation. The Bill proposed registration for operators of sexual services businesses.
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.
Sex Industry Regulation Bill (Tas)
The Bill was supported by sex workers,
Scarlet Alliance Submission on Sex Industry Regulation Bill (Tas)
The Bill included offence provisions to ensure that Tasmania met its international
obligations under the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (signed by
Australia in 2001.) It passed the House of Assembly and was tabled in the Legislative
Council, where it was soon clear that it would not be passed and was subsequently lost. It was replaced by the Sex Industry Offences Act 2005. Essentially, in response to protests the Government moved from a position of liberalising to one of further criminalising. The Act that was passed consolidated and clarified the existing law in relation to sex work by providing that it was not
illegal to be a sex worker and provide sexual services but that it was illegal for a person to
employ or otherwise control or profit from the work of individual sex workers. A review clause was included given the uncertainty as to what the right way to proceed was. The Act commenced 1 January 2006.
The Sex Industry Offences Act 2005
states that a person must not be a commercial operator of a sexual services business - that is, "someone who is not a self-employed sex worker and who, whether alone or with another person, operates, owns, manages or is in day-to-day control of a sexual services business".
This law explicitly outlines that it is illegal to assault a sex worker, to receive commercial sexual services, or provide or receive sexual services unless a prophylactic
is used.
Submission to Sex Industry Act Review 2008 (Tas), Scarlet Alliance November 2008
The report was tabled in June 2009
Report on the Review of the Sex Industry Offences Act 2005. 2009
and expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the legislation, and suggested considering alternatives.
In June 2010 the Attorney-General Lara Giddings
announced the Government was going to proceed with reform, using former Attorney-General Judy Jackson
's 2003 draft legislation as a starting point.
Attorney-General outlines law reform agenda. Government of Tasmania 22 June 2010
Giddings became the Premier in a minority ALP government in January 2011. However her Attorney-general, former premier David Bartlett
, did not favour this position
Bartlett unlikely to legalise brothels. The Examiner April 2 2011
but resigned shortly afterwards, being succeeded by Brian Wightman
.
stroll area of St. Kilda
. A Working Party was assembled in 1984 and led to the Planning (Brothel) Act 1984, as a new approach. Part of the political bargaining involved in passing the act was the promise to set up a wider inquiry. The inquiry was chaired by Marcia Neave
, and reported in 1985. The recommendations tried to avoid some of the issues that arose in New South Wales in 1979, and the Government attempted to implement them in the Prostitution Regulation Act 1986. However as in other States, the bill ran into considerable opposition in the upper house, was extensively amended, and consequently many parts were not proclaimed. This created an incoherent patchwork approach. Further legislation appeared, and another report in 2002.
Attorney-General's Street Prostitution Advisory Group 2002 (Vic)
Prostitution Control Act 1994 legalises and regulates the operations of brothel
s and escort agencies
in Victoria
. The difference between the two is that in the case of a brothel clients come to the place of business, which is subject to local council planning controls. In the case of an escort agency, clients phone the agency and arrange for a sex worker to come to their homes or motels. A brothel must obtain a permit from the local council.
s21A
A brothel or escort agency must not advertise its services.
s17, 18
Also, a brothel operator must not allow alcohol to be consumed at the brothel,
s21
nor apply for a liquor licence for the premises; nor may they allow a person under the age of 18 years to enter a brothel nor employ as a prostitute a person under 18 years of age,
Prostitution Control Act 1994 - s11A
though the age of consent
in Victoria is 16 years.
Crimes Act 1958, s45(1)
The most recent changes occurred in the Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (February 2010).
These changes came into effect in November 2010. Imporetantly, prostitution has been replaced by Sex Work, throughout. The act is now referred to as the Sex Work Act 1994.
Owner-operated brothels and private escort workers are not required to obtain a license, but must be registered, and escorts from brothels are permitted. If only one or two prostitutes (also called sex workers) run a brothel or escort agency, which does not employ other prostitutes, they also do not need a licence, but are required to be registered. However, in all other cases, the operator of a brothel or escort agency must be licensed. The licensing process enables the licensing authority to check on any criminal history of an applicant. All new brothels are limited to having no more than six rooms. However, larger brothels which existed before the Act was passed were automatically given licences and continue to operate, though cannot increase the number of rooms. Sex workers employed by licensed brothels are not required to be licensed or registered.Consumer Affairs Victoria - Proposed Prostitution Control Regulations 2006, p8.
A person under 18 years is not permitted to be a prostitute (s5-7), and sex work must not be forced
.
s8
More than one licensee may operate a single brothel (eg in partnership); some licensees are currently not trading; and small exempt owner-operators may operate some brothels.
Street prostitution
continues to be illegal,
http://www.studyon.com.au/vic/legal3-4/print/hot-topics/008-prostitution/index.html a big issue but is publicly known to exist and visible in some areas.
One of the objectives of the Act was to eliminate the criminal connection to the operations of brothels. However, the success of this objective has been questioned, with unlicensed, illegal and abusive operations still being in existence.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~beware/facts.htm
According to some estimates, there are 400 illegal brothels in Victoria.
The Age 18/10/2008: Sex called off in hunt for illegal brothels
But a study from 2006, in which advertisements from Melbourne
newspapers published in July 2006 were analysed based on the language used in order to identify premises likely to be unlicensed brothels estimated that the number of unlicensed brothels in Melbourne was 70 at most, with a lower limit of 13.
Chen MY et al. Estimating the number of unlicensed brothels in Melbourne. ANZJ Pub Health 2010 34: 67-71
The AAEI (Australian Adult Entertainment Industry) states on its website that "Victoria currently has around 100 licensed brothels and escort agencies and an estimated 300 illegal brothels".
http://www.aaei.com.au/licensedbrothels.htm
In the state of Victoria, there are 3.1 million instances of buying sex per year as compared with a total male population of 1.3 million men.
Sullivan, Mary "What Happens When Prostitution Becomes Work? An Update on Legalisation of Prostitution in Australia" Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Australia 2005
In the state, women make up 90% of the labour force and earn, on average, $400–$500 per week, do not receive holiday or sick pay, and work on average four 10-hour shifts per week. In addition, with the overall growth in the industry since legalisation in the mid-1980s and increased competition between prostitution businesses, earnings have decreased.
20 years ago there were 3000 to 4000 women in prostitution as a whole, now there are 4500 women in the legal trade alone, with more in the illegal trade, estimated to be 4 to 5 times larger than the legal trade.
The sex industry is run by six large companies, which tend to control a wide array of prostitution operations, making self-employment very difficult.
Brothels take 50% to 60% of the money paid by johns and fine prostituted women for refusing johns.
Between 1995 and 1998, the Prostitution Control Board, a state government body, collected $991,000 Australian in prostitution licensing fees.
In addition, hoteliers, casinos, taxi drivers, clothing manufacturers and retailers, newspapers, and advertising agencies, to mention a few, profit from prostitution in the state.
There is one prostitution business in Australia that is publicly traded on the Australian stock exchange.
Finally, gangs and other criminal elements make money in prostitution and often use their legal businesses to launder money from the illegal trade. The illegal trade is the focus of much trafficking and underage prostitution.
has had a long history of debates and attempts to reform prostitution laws. In the absence of reform, varying degrees of toleration have existed. The current legislation is the Prostitution Control Act 2000. Prostitution itself is not illegal, although many activities associated with it are.
has been intimately tied to the history of gold mining. In these areas a quasi-official arrangement existed between premise owners and the authorities. This was frequently justified as a harm reduction measure. Like other Australian colonies, legislation tended to be influence by developments in Britain. The Police Act 1892 was no different, establishing penalties for soliciting or vagrancy, while the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1892 dealt with procurement. Brothel keepers were prosecuted under the Municipal Institutions Act 1895, by which all municipalities had passed brothel suppression by-laws in 1905. Laws were further strengthened by Police Act Amendment Act 1902, and Criminal Code 1902. despite this the brothels of Kalgoorlie were legendary. Prostitution was much debated in the media and parliament, but despite much lobbying, venereal diseases were not included in the Health Act 1911. The war years and the large number of military personnel in Perth
and Fremantle
concentrated attention on the issue, however during much of Western Australian history, control of prostitution was largely a police affair rather than a parliamentary one, as a process of 'containment'.
Much of the debate in the last two years centred on the Prostitution Amendment Act 2008,
Prostitution Amendment Act 2008 (WA)
introduced in 2007 by the Alan Carpenter's
Australian Labor Party
Government. Although it passed the upper house narrowly and received Royal Assent on 14 April 2008, it was not proclaimed before the 2008 state election
, in which the Carpenter and the ALP narrowly lost power in September, and therefore remains inactive. The Act was based partly on the approach taken in 2003 in New Zealand
(and which in turn was based on the approach in NSW). It would have decriminalised brothels and would have required certification (certification would not have applied to independent operators).
Therefore the 2000 Act is currently operative. Brothels may be said to exist in a legal grey area, although 'containment' has officially been disbanded, in Perth in 1958 and more recently in Kalgoorlie.
In opposition the ALP criticised the lack of action on prostitution by the coalition government.
Brothels in WA suburbs 'uncontrolled': opposition. WA Today 14 March 2010
The debate had been reopened when the Liberal-National Barnett
Government announced plans to regulate brothels in December 2009.
Plans to legalise prostitution fast-tracked. Perth Now 19 Dec 2009
More information was announced by Attorney-General
Christian Porter
in June 2010.
Legalised sex trade to clear suburbs. The Australian 21 June 2010
Hundreds of brothels tipped to shut as Western Australia legalises prostitution. News.com 10 June 2010
Religious groups continue to oppose any liberalisation, as do elements within the government party
WA Government has not done its homework on dangerous brothel trade. Christian Today 21 June 2010
Opposition questions delay in prostitution laws ABC 18 June 2010
although Porter has denied this.
No split on prostitution says Attorney General. ABC 18 June 2010
The Liberal-National plans will require the repeal of the unproclaimed Labor legislation of 2008.
His critics state that Porter "would accommodate the market demand for prostitution by setting up a system of licensed brothels in certain non-residential areas" and that people "should accept that prostitution will occur and legalise the trade, because we can never suppress it entirely" and that it is "like alcohol or gambling – saying it should be regulated rather than banned."
WA Attorney-General fails to persuade on brothel law. Christian Today 10 June 2010
Porter has challenged his critics to come up with a better model and rejected the Swedish example of only criminalising clients.
Attorney General challenges anti-prostitution lobby. The Record 17 June 2010
These represent a change in thinking since an interview he gave in March 2009.
Christian Porter. Prostitution laws. March 2009
However he is following through on a promise he made in early 2009 to clear the suburbs of sex work.
West Australian 23 May 2009
He was not a member of the previous parliament that debated the ALP legislation.
Porter released a ministerial statement
Ministerial Statement 25 November 2010
and made a speech in the legislature on 25 November 2010,
Hansard Prostitution 2010 (25 November)
WA looks at tougher anti-brothel laws. WA Today 25 November 2010
inviting public submissions. The plan was immediately rejected by religious groups.
Christian Lobby says WA prostitution laws do not go far enough. Family Directory 23 December 2010
Women are worth more. Australian Christian Lobby
By the time the consultation closed on 11 February 2011, 164 submissions were received, many repeating many of the arguments of the receding years. This time Porter found himself criticised by both sides of the 2007 debate, for instance churches that supported the Coalition position in opposition, now criticised them,
Churches oppose legal brothels. West Australian 12 February 2011
while sex worker groups that supported the Carpenter proposals continued to oppose coalition policies,
Prostitutes blast brothel law plans. West Australian 14 February 2011
Submission of Scarlet Alliance 27 January 2011
as do health groups.
Whose safety? Regulation of the sex industry in Western Australia. Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations January 2011
The majority of the population (60%) continue to support legalising brothels, but it is unclear whether they prefer the ALP or Coalition version of this.
On 14 June 2011 the Minister announced
Ministerial Statement 14 June 2011
No sex in the suburbs under new prostitution laws. WA Today 14 June 2011
a Green Bill
Prostitution Bill 2011
was available for public comment over a six week period. Porter explained the purpose of the legislation thus: "The Prostitution Bill 2011 will not only ban brothels from residential areas but also ensure appropriate regulatory and licensing schemes are in place for those very limited non-residential areas where prostitution will be permitted and heavily regulated." An FAQ
sheet was also developed.
Prostitution Bill 2011 FAQs
Publication of the Bill has not shifted the debate which remains deeply polarised, any legalisation being bitterly opposed by conservative religious groups, despite Porter's assurances that his government does not condone sex work.
Opposing liberalisation of prostitution. Justice Mandate
Please help stop the legalisation of prostitution in Western Australia. Life ministries
Women are worth more.
Sex Workers and health organisations remain just as committed to opposing the proposals.
Nothing About Us Without US. July 2011
Scarlet Alliance response
Following consultation, the government announced a series of changes to the bill representing compromises with its critics,
Significant Changes to the Prostitution Bill Nov 2011
which was then introduced into parliament on 3 Nov 2011,
Prostitution Bill passed in Parliament expected to regulate the industry. Perth Now 3 Nov 2011
where it received first and second reading. (Current Bills before Parliament)
Prostitution crackdown will push all sex workers out of suburbs. Sydney Morning Herald 3 Nov 2011
Sex workers continue to oppose it.
Sex workers fear WA prostitution bill. News.com 3 2011
Will new laws force prostitution underground? ABC 4 Nov 2011
Significantly, the opposition Labor Party are opposed to the bill,
WA prostitution bill causes controversy. 9 News 3 Nov 2011
both political parties now agreeing on the need to decriminalise the indoor market, but differing in how to go about it. Since the government is in a minority it will require the support of several independent members to ensure passage through the Legislative Assembly.
Prostitution to be banned in suburban Perth. Western Australian 3 Nov 2011
Most Australian states and territories have liberalized their laws in the late twentieth century. However, this process has been restricted by upper houses of Parliament of several States, with legislation either being defeated or extensively amended. Nearly all states and territories have attempted some form of liberalisation.
History
Prior to ConfederationFederation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
Australia adopted the Contagious Diseases Acts
Contagious Diseases Acts
The Contagious Diseases Acts were originally passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1864, with further alterations and editions made to it in 1866 and 1869. In 1862, a committee was established to inquire into venereal disease in the armed forces; on its recommendation the first...
of the United Kingdom between 1868 and 1879 in an attempt to control venereal disease in the military, requiring compulsory inspection of women suspected of prostitution, and could include incarceration in a lock-hospital.
Despite being a confederation
Confederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
, criminal law was left in the hands of the States. However criminal law relating to prostitution only dates from around 1910. These laws did not make the act of prostitution illegal, but did criminalise many activities related to prostitution. These laws were based on English laws passed between 1860-1885 and related to soliciting, age restrictions, brothel keeping and leasing accommodation.
A report produced by the Australian Institute of Criminology
Australian Institute of Criminology
The Australian Institute of Criminology is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. The Institute seeks to promote justice and reduce crime by undertaking and communicating evidence-based research to inform policy and practice.The functions of the AIC include...
in May of 1990 recommended that prostitution not be a criminal offence, since the current laws were ineffective and endangered sex workers.
A survey conducted in the early 2000s showed that 15.6% of Australian men aged 16–59 have paid for sex at least once in their life and 1.9% had done so in the past year. Men who had paid for sex were more likely than other men to smoke, to drink more alcohol, to have had a sexually transmitted infection or been tested for HIV, to have more sexual partners, to have first had vaginal intercourse before 16, and to have had heterosexual anal intercourse.
Human trafficking in Australia
The number of people trafficked into AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
is unknown. Estimates given to a 2004 parliamentary inquiry into sexual servitude in Australia ranged from 300 to 1000 trafficked women annually.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Trafficking in persons: global patterns lists Australia as one of 21 trafficking destination countries in the high destination category.
Australia is not a party to the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others of 1949. It has implemented in 1999 the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children is a protocol to the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime...
, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
The Convention against Transnational Organized Crime is a United Nations-sponsored multilateral treaty against transnational organized crime, adopted in 2000...
, to which it is a party. Australia has also ratified on 8 January 2007 the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, which requires it to prohibit, besides other things, child prostitution. For the purpose of the Protocol, a child is any human being under the age of 18, unless an earlier age of majority is recognized by a country's law. In all Australian jurisdictions, the minimum age at which a person can engage in prostitution is 18 years.
History
Historically, prior to passage of the 1992 Prostitution Act, prostitution policy in the Australian Capital TerritoryAustralian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
(ACT) consisted of "containment and control" under the Police Offences Act 1930
Police Offences Act 1930
This prohibited keeping a brothel, persistently soliciting in a public place, or living on the earnings of prostitution. This law was not enforced. In 1991 a report entitled Prostitution in the ACT: Interim Report (Australian Capital Territory) was produced by the Select Committee on HIV, Illegal Drugs and Prostitution describing the then state of the industry, the shortcomings of the law, and the possible reforms available. having considered the example of other Australian States that had adopted various other models, the committee recommended decriminalization, which occurred in the 1992 Prostitution Act.
(Collaery 1991).
Current situation
Following decriminalisation with the passage of the The Prostitution Act 1992Prostitution Act 1992 (ACT)
brothels are legal, but sex workers are required to register with the Office of Regulatory Services (ORS).
Office of Regulatory Services: Sex Industry
The ORS also registers and regulates brothels and escort agencies. Sex workers may work privately but must work alone. Soliciting remains illegal (Section 19).
Subsequent amending acts include the Prostitution Amendment Act 2002
Prostitution Amendment Act 2002 (ACT)
and the Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2011
Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2011
(Part 1.7), a minor administrative amendment.
Legislative Review 2011
The legal situation is again under discussion with a Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety’s inquiry into the ACT Prostitution Act 1992, following the death of a 17 young woman, Janine Cameron, from a heroin overdose in a brothel in 2008.Sex trade laws under review. ABC News 1 Oct 2010
The inquiry was established on 28 October 2010. The committtee's terms of reference are as follows:
Inquiry into Prostitution Act: Terms of Reference
- the form and operation of the Act;
- identifying regulatory options, including the desirability of requiring commercially operated brothels to maintain records of workers and relevant proof of age, to ensure that all sex workers are over the age of 18 years;
- the adequacy of, and compliance with, occupational health and safety requirements for sex workers;
- any links with criminal activity;
- the extent to which unlicensed operators exist within the ACT, and
- other relevant matter
and is chaired by Liberal MLA Vicki Dunne
Vicki Dunne
Vicki Ann Dunne , an Australian politician, is a member of the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, since 2001, representing the electoral district of Ginninderra for the Liberal Party....
.
Written submissions were required by 26 February 2011 at which time 58 submissions had been received.
Inquiry into Prostitution Act: Submissions
Submissions to the committee include Scarlet Alliance
Scarlet Alliance
Scarlet Alliance is the national peak sex worker organisation of Australia and was formed in 1989. Scarlet Alliance, Australian sex workers Association, through its objectives, policies and programs, aims to achieve equality, social, legal, political, cultural and economic justice for past and...
.
Scarlet Alliance submission to the Standing Committee on Justice 2011
The Alliance requests changes that would allow sex workers to work together, the removal of registration (which is rarely complied with),
and the repeal of sections 24 and 25 dealing with sexually transmitted diseases. The Eros Association, which represents the industry is also calling for removal of registration and for an expansion into residential areas.
Sex trade eyes the suburbs. Canberra Times March 2011
As in other States and Territories, conservative Christian groups such as the Australian Christian Lobby
Australian Christian Lobby
The Australian Christian Lobby is a Christian political lobby group having a head office in Canberra and branches in six Australian states and territories. Its motto is "Voice for values". Its managing director is Jim Wallace AM....
(ACL) have called for criminalising clients.
ACL appears at ACT prostitution inquiry. ACL 11 May 2011
Push to criminalise paying prostitutes. Canberra Times 12 May 2011
Groups supporting this position include the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women is an international non-governmental organization opposing human trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of commercial sex.-Views:...
Australia.
Review into prostitution must benefit women not business ABC 21 March 2011
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia
sex workers have argued against this.
Don't use the Swedish model for ACT sex workers. Canberra Times 19 May 2011
The Catholic Church has also opposed it.
Ms Dunne has stated that the committee is considering exit schemes
No exit programs for Canberra sex workers. ABC April 2011
however Attorney-General Simon Corbell
Simon Corbell
Simon Corbell is an Australian politician in the Australian Capital Territory, and is one of the seven members of the Legislative Assembly electorate of Molonglo, representing the Australian Labor Party...
has stated that it is unlikely there will be any substantive changes to the status quo.
Unregulated sex industry 'hard to gauge'. ABC 23 March 2011
Canberra suburbia a no-go zone for brothels. Canberra Times 24 May 2011
The most recent committee hearing on evidence was on 13 July 2011.
Hansard committee transcripts: Justice 13 July 2011
Advocacy
Advocacy for sex workers in the ACT is undertaken by SWOP ACT (Sex Work Outreach Project).SWOP ACT
Other sources
- Bernard Collaery. The Sex Industry in the ACT. Australian Institute of Criminology 1991
- Australian Capital Territory. Legislative Assembly. Select Committee on HIV, Illegal Drugs and Prostitution 1991, Prostitution in the ACT: Interim Report, Canberra.
External links
- Government of ACT
- ACT Legislative Assembly
- Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety: Inquiry into the operation of the Prostitution Act 1992
New South Wales
New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
has the most liberal legislation on prostitution in Australia, with almost complete decriminalisation, and has has acted as a model for other jurisdictions such as New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Brothels are legal in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, under the Summary Offences Act 1988.
Summary Offences Act 1988
The only activities that are illegal are:
- living on the earnings of a prostitute, although persons who own or manage a brothel are exempt
- causing or inducing prostitution (procuring: Crimes Act s.91A,B)Armstrong Legal: Procuring for prostitution
- using premises, or allowing premises to be used, for prostitution that are held out as being available for massage, sauna baths, steam baths, facilities for exercise or photographic studios
- advertising that a premises is used for prostitution, or advertising for prostitutes
- soliciting for prostitution near or within view of a dwelling, school, church or hospital
- advertising that anal penetration will take place
- engaging in child prostitution (Crimes Act s.91C-F)
According to a 2009 report in the Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...
illegal brothels in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
outnumbered licensed operations by four to one.
NSW papers urged to cut brothel ads, ABC news 18 May 2009
Early era
New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
inherited much of the problems of port cities, penal colonies and the gender imbalance of colonial life. Initially there was little specific legislaion aimed at prostitution, but prostitutes could be charged under vagrancy provisions if their behaviour drew undue attention (Perkins 1991). The 1859 Select Committee into the Condition of the Working Classes of the Metropolis described widespread prostitution. Nineteenth century legislation included the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1883 and Police Offences Act 1901. Attempts to pass contagious diseases legislation were resisted, and unlike other States, legislative control was minimal till the general attack on 'vice' of the first decade of the twentieth century which resulted in the Police Offences Amendment Act 1908, and the Prisoners Detention Act. Street prostitution was controlled by the Vagrancy Act 1902 (sec. 4[1][c]) (Perkins 1991) enabling a woman to be arrested as a 'common prostitute'. This was strengthened by an amendment of the Police Offences (Amendment) Act 1908, which also prohibited living on the earnings.
Strengthening the laws
The Vagrancy Act was further strengthened in 1968, making it an offence to 'loiter for the purpose of prostitution' (sec. 4 [1][k]). These provisions were then incorporated into the Summary Offences Act 1970, sec. 28.
Decriminalisation
In the 1970s an active debate about the need for liberalisation appeared, spearheaded by feminists and libertarians, culminating under the Wran
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...
ALP government in the Prostitution Act 1979. Eventually New South Wales became a model for debates on liberalising prostitution laws. However almost immediately community pressure started to build for additional safeguards, particularly in Darlinghurst (Perkins 1991), although police still utilised other legislation such as the Offences In Public Places Act 1979 for unruly behaviour. Eventually this led to a subsequent partial recriminalisation of street work with the Prostitution (Amendment) Act 1983, of which s8A stipulates that;
(1) A person in a public street shall not, near a dwelling, school, church or hospital, solicit another person for the purpose of prostitution …
(2) A person shall not, in a school, church or hospital, solicit another person for the purpose of prostitution.
This resulted in Darlinghurst street workers relocating (Perkins 1991).
Further decriminalisation of premises followed with the
Disorderly Houses (Amendment) Act 1995 (NSW)
putting into place of recommendations from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Prostitution (1983-6). Although the committee had recommended relaxing the soliciting laws, the new Greiner
Nick Greiner
Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988. He is married...
Liberal government tightened these provisions further in 1988 through the Summary Offences Act in response to community pressure.
The current regulatory framework is based on the Crimes Act 1900,
Crimes Act 1900
Disorderly Houses Act 1943 (renamed Restricted Premises Act in 2002), Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, and Summary Offences Act 1988. The suburbs of King's Cross
Kings Cross, New South Wales
Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Islington
Islington, New South Wales
Islington is a suburb of the city of Newcastle in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Located only from the Newcastle CBD on one of Newcastle's major arterial roads, it was initially developed as a residential suburb. Today it includes a small industrial area and is adjacent to the...
in Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
have been traditional hotbeds for prostitution. New South Wales is the only Australian state that legalizes street prostitution
Street prostitution
Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, beaches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a...
. However community groups in those locations continue to push for re-criminalisation.
NSW prostitution laws 'ambiguous, contradictory'. ABC June 15 2009
Politics
Generally prostitution policy in New South Wales has been bipartisan. However in 2010, the Liberal oppositionLeader of the New South Wales Liberal Party
The position of leader of the Liberal Party of Australia's New South Wales division is a formal role held by a Liberal member of the Parliament of New South Wales...
announced that it would make prostitution reform part of its campaign for the March 2011 State election
New South Wales state election, 2011
Elections to the 55th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal-National coalition opposition led by Barry O'Farrell.New South Wales has...
. The plan would involve a new licensing authority following revelations that the sex industry had been expanding and operating illegal as well as legal premises. The Liberals claimed that organised crime and coercion were part of the NSW brothel scene.
Liberal brothel police to take sleaze out of sex. Daily Telegraph 22 December 2010
The last reform was in 2007, with the Brothels Legislation Act.
Brothels Legislation Act 2007
The Liberals were duly elected as the new Government in that election.
History
- Golder H., Allen J., "Prostitution in New South Wales, 1870-1930: Restructuring an Industry", in Refractory Girl, Volumes 18/19, December/January 1979-80, pp. 17–25
- Allen, J., "The making of a prostitute proletariat in early twentieth-century New South Wales", in Daniels, K., (ed.) So Much Hard Work: Women and prostitution in Australian history, Fontana Collins, Sydney 1984, pp. 192–232
Research
- http://192.190.66.44/en/publications/previous%20series/proceedings/1-27/~/media/publications/proceedings/16/egger.pdfSandra Egger and Christine Harcourt. PROSTITUTION IN NSW: THE IMPACT OF DEREGULATION, in Patricia Weiser Easteal and Sandra McKillop (eds.) Women and the Law, Australian Institute of CriminologyAustralian Institute of CriminologyThe Australian Institute of Criminology is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. The Institute seeks to promote justice and reduce crime by undertaking and communicating evidence-based research to inform policy and practice.The functions of the AIC include...
1991] - http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/previous%20series/proceedings/1-27/~/media/publications/proceedings/16/perkins.pdfRoberta Perkins. STREET PROSTITUTION AND ITS MANIPULATION BY LAW IN NEW SOUTH WALES, in Patricia Weiser Easteal and Sandra McKillop (eds.) Women and the Law, Australian Institute of CriminologyAustralian Institute of CriminologyThe Australian Institute of Criminology is Australia's national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice. The Institute seeks to promote justice and reduce crime by undertaking and communicating evidence-based research to inform policy and practice.The functions of the AIC include...
1991] - John Scott. Prostitution and Public Health in New South Wales. Culture, Health & Sexuality Vol. 5, No. 3, Belief Systems and the Place of Desire: Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific. Selected Papers from the IASSCS Melbourne Conference (May - Jun., 2003), pp. 277-293
- Scott J. Prostitution and Public Health in New South Wales: Reply to Egger and Harcourt Culture, Health & Sexuality Vol. 6, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 2004), pp. 447-453
- Scott J et al. Sex work and health in a rural context: results of qualitative study undertaken in New South Wales. Australian Sociological Association 2008
Reports
External links
Northern Territory
Brothels are illegal in the Northern TerritoryNorthern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
under the Prostitution Regulation Act 2004,
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/consol_act/pra317/ the Northern Territory Licensing Commission
http://www.nt.gov.au/justice/commission// can license Northern Territory residents for a licence to operate an escort agency business. Street work is illegal, while sole operators are legal and un-regulated. Sex workers have protested against the fact that the NT is the only part of Australia where workers have to register with the police.
Prostitution law puts sex workers at risk. ABC 14 May 2010
Any liberalisation is vigorously opposed by religious groups.
NT warned on opening floodgates to women trafficking The Record 17 June 2010
History
Unlike other parts of Australia, the Northern TerritoryNorthern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
remained largely Aboriginal for much longer, and Europeans were predominantly male. Inevitably this brought European males into close proximity with Aboriginal women. There has been much debate as to whether the hiring of Aboriginal women (Black Velvet) as domestic labour but also as sexual partners constituted prostitution or not. Certainly these inter-racial liaisons attracted much criticism. Once the Commonwealth took over the territory from South Australia in 1911, it saw its role as protecting the indigenous population, and there was considerable debate about employment standards and the practice of 'consorting'. In 2004 The Suppression of Brothels Act 1907 (SA) in its application to the Territory was repealed by the Prostitution Regulation Act.
Other sources
- McGrath A. 'Black Velvet': Aboriginal women and their relations with white men in the Northern territory, 1910–40, in Daniels K (ed.) So Much Hard Work: Women and prostitution in Australian history. Fontana Collins, Sydney 1984, pp. 15–86
Queensland
Brothels are legal. They are licensed by the Prostitution Licensing Authority (PLA).http://www.pla.qld.gov.au/
The PLA reports to the Crime and Misconduct Commission
Crime and Misconduct Commission
The Crime and Misconduct Commission is an independent Queensland Government entity created to combat and reduce the incidence of major crime and to continuously improve the integrity of, and to reduce the incidence of misconduct in, the Queensland public sector. The CMC also has a witness...
(CMC), which reports to parliament.
There are two types of sex work that are legal in Queensland:
- Private sex work: A single sex worker working alone. It is an offence for such a worker to solicit publicly. Advertising is permitted with restrictions on the wording.
Guidelines about the Approved Form for Advertisements for Prostitution 2008
- Sex work in a licensed brothel.
All other forms of sex work remain illegal, including more than one worker sharing a premise, street prostitution
Street prostitution
Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, beaches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a...
, unlicensed brothels or massage parlours used for sex work, and outcalls from licensed brothels. The CMC continues to oppose outcall services,
Prostitution and the Law in Queensland. Prostitution Licensing Authority 2006
CMC releases report on inquiry into Queensland escort services. CMC October 2006
although this is currently favoured by the PLA.
According to a 2009 report, only 10% of prostitution happens in the licensed brothels, the rest of 90% of prostitution remains either unregulated or illegal.
Queensland sex industry still largely illegitimate, Brisbane Times
History
Much emphasis was placed in colonial QueenslandQueensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
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. Concerns led to the Act for the Suppression of Contagious Diseases 1868 and brothels were defined in section 231 of the Queensland Criminal Code in 1897. A further act relating to venereal disease control was the Health Act Amendment Act 1911.
The Fitzgerald Report
Fitzgerald Inquiry
The Fitzgerald Inquiry into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted in the deposition of a premier, two by-elections, the jailing of three former ministers and a police commissioner who was jailed and lost his...
(Commission of Inquiry into “Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct") of 1989 led to widespread concern regarding the operation of the laws, and consequently a more specific inquiry (Criminal Justice Commission. Regulating morality? An inquiry into prostitution in Queensland) in 1991. This in turn resulted in two pieces of legislation, the Prostitution Laws Amendment Act 1992 and the Prostitution Act 1999.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/pa1999205/
Various amendments have been introduced, the most recent in August 2009.
Prostitution and other Acts Amendments Bill 2009
Prostitution and other Acts Amendments Bill 2009. Legislative Proceedings 18 August 2009
Prostitution and other Acts Amendments Bill 2009. Notes
However this Bill has not moved forward beyond second reading introduction.
There are continuing reports that an illegal sector continues to thrive.
Sex trade explodes. Courier-Mail 30 January 2011
Other sources
- Evans R. 'Soiled Doves': Prostitution in colonial Queensland, in Daniels K (ed.) So Much Hard Work: Women and prostitution in Australian history. Fontana Collins, Sydney 1984, pp. 127–161
- Prostitution after Fitzgerald. Courier-Mail August 1994
- From the Dark Days: History of Prostitution in Queensland, in Prostitution Licensing Authority Annual Report 2001, pp 3-6
- Respect Inc. Sex Workers of Queensland
- Unregulated and illegal prostitution in Queensland. Andreas Schloenhardt, University of Queensland, 24 September 2009
- Ten years of prostitution regulation in Queensland. Andreas Schloenhardt, University of Queensland, 21 September 2009
External links
South Australia
Brothels are illegal in South AustraliaSouth Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 - s. 5
and the Summary Offences Act 1953.
Summary Offences Act 1953
Prostitution is not illegal, but the receiving of money, soliciting and procuring is, which makes it illegal in effect.
Early era
Despite the intentions of the founders, prostitution became identified early in the history of the colony, known as the 'social evil', and various government reports during the nineteenth century refer to estimates of the number of people working in prostitution. Legislation was passed by the Legislature in 1844 (An Ordinance for regulating the Police in South Australia) which stated "every common prostitute wandering in the public streets or highways, or in any place of public resort, and behaving in a riotous or indecent manner ... shall be deemed an idle and disorderly person.", consistent with vagrancyVagrancy (people)
A vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
laws throughout the British Empire. This offence attracting between one and three months imprisonment with hard labour, remained the effective legislation for most of the remainder of the century, although it made little impact despite harsher penal;ties enacted in 1863 and 1869.
Social Reform in South Australia: Sex Industry. State Library
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
Social purity movement
The social purity movement was a late nineteenth century social movement that sought to abolish prostitution and other sexual activities then considered immoral. Composed primarily of women, the movement was active in English-speaking nations from the late 1860s to about 1910, exerting an...
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).
Exploring democracy: Lee, Mary
Opinions were divided as to whether to address the issue of prostitution by social reform and 'prevention', or by legislation, and many debates were held concerning the need for licensing and regulation.
The Twentieth century saw the Suppression of Brothels Bill 1907, the Venereal Diseases Act of 1920, the Police Act 1936 and Police Offences Act 1953.
Modern era
While current legislation is based on acts of parliament from the 1930s and 1950s, at least six unsuccessful attempts have been made to reform the laws, starting in 1980. In 1978 one of many inquires was launched. Parliament voted a select committee of inquiry in August, renewed following the 1979 electionSouth Australian state election, 1979
State elections were held in Australia on 15 September 1979. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Premier of South Australia Des Corcoran was defeated by the Liberal Party of Australia led by Leader of the...
. The Evidence Act 1978 was amended to allow witness immunity
Millhouse
The committee report (1980) recommended decriminalisation. Robin Millhouse
Robin Millhouse
Robin Rhodes Millhouse QC has been, at various times, the South Australian Attorney-General, the first Australian Democrats parliamentarian, and the Chief Justice of both Kiribati and Nauru....
's (former Liberal
Liberal and Country League
The Liberal and Country League was a major political party in South Australia throughout its forty year existence. Thirty-four years were spent in government, in part due to the electoral malapportionment known as the Playmander, introduced after coming to power.Created on 9 June 1932 as the...
Attorney-General, but then a new LM
New LM
The New Liberal Movement was a South Australian political party that had parliamentary representation during the mid-1970s.Formed by Robin Millhouse on 6 May 1976 following the dissolution of the Liberal Movement, the New LM sought to be the true liberal party in South Australia, arguing that the...
and finally Democrat
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
MLA) introduced (27 February 1980) a bill entitled "A Bill for an Act to give effect to the recommendations of the Select Committee of Inquiry into prostitution." It generated considerable opposition in the community and failed on a tied vote in the Assembly on 11 February 1981.
Pickles
A further bill was introduced in 1986 (Carolyn Pickles ALP MLC 1985–2002) but dropped on 18th March 1987 due to Liberal opposition and community pressure, with a 13-2 vote.
Gilfillan
A number of issues kept sex work in the public eye during 1990 and 1991. The next development occurred on 8 February 1991 when Ian Gilfillan
Ian Gilfillan
Ian Gilfillan is a former Australian politician. He was educated in Adelaide and was based on Kangaroo Island. He contested the 1974 federal election as a member of the Australia Party, but joined the Australian Democrats in 1977. In 1982, he was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council...
(Australian Democrat
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
MLC 1982-3) stated he would introduce a decriminalisation private members bill. He did so on 10 April 1991 but it met opposition from groups such as the Uniting Church and it lapsed when parliament recessed for the winter. Although he introduced a similar bill on 21 August 1991 but on 29 April 1992 a moption passed that resulted in the bill being withdrawn in favour of a reference to the Social Development Committee, although little was achieved by the latter during this time.
Brindel
Another bill came in 1993 and then Mark Brindal
Mark Brindal
Mark Brindal is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the South Australian House of Assembly, Adelaide, South Australia, between 1989 and 2006, representing the electorates of Heywood and then Unley.-Early life:Brindal was born in South Australia and was educated...
, a Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
backbencher, produced a discussion paper on decriminalisation in November 1994, and on 9 February 1995 he introduced a private member's bill (Prostitution (Decriminalisation) Bill) to decriminalise prostitution and the Prostitution Regulation Bill on February 23rd. 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. He twice attempted to get decriminalisation bills passed, although his party opposed this.
Prostitution debated in South Australia. Green Left Weekly 22 February 1995
The Decriminalisation) Bill was discharged on July 6, but the Regulation Bill was lost on a conscience vote 16 to 28 on July 27th.
Cameron
Meanwhile the Committee released its final report on 21 August 1996,
Report of the Inquiry into Prostitution (SA)
but it was not till 25 March 1998 that Terry Cameron
Terry Cameron
Terry Gordon Cameron is a former South Australian politician.Cameron entered the South Australian Legislative Council in 1994 to fill an Australian Labor Party vacancy, and then was re-elected as a Labor candidate in 1997. However he resigned from the party in order to support the Olsen Liberal...
MLC (ALP 1995-2006) introduced a bill based on it. It had little support and lapsed when parliament recessed.
Brokenshire
The Liberal Police Minister, Robert Brokenshire
Robert Brokenshire
Robert "Rob" Lawrence Brokenshire is a South Australian dairy farmer and Member of the 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd and current South Australian Parliament. Formerly a real estate broker, Brokenshire was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the South Australian House of Assembly between 1993 and...
, introduced four Bills in 1999, the Prostitution (Licensing) Bill 1999, the Prostitution (Registration) Bill 1999, the Prostitution (Regulation) Bill 1999 and the Summary Offences (Prostitution) Bill 1999, to revise the laws and decriminalise prostitution. The Prostitution (Regulation) Bill was passed by the House of Assembly
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...
and received by the Legislative Council
South Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly...
on 13 July 2000, but defeated on 17 July 2001, 12:7.
The Bill was also supported by the Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
.
Hon Sandra Knack. Speech Legislative Council 10 October 2000
The then Minister for the status of Women, Diana Laidlaw
Diana Laidlaw
Diana Laidlaw was a South Australian Liberal politician, an elected member of the Legislative Council and held several ministerial posts.- Biography :...
is said to have neen moved to tears, and called her colleagues "gutless". Another MLC, Sandra Kanck
Sandra Kanck
Sandra Myrtho Kanck is a South Australian politician. She was an Australian Democrats member of the South Australian Legislative Council 1993-2009, and at the time of the announcement of her resignation in November 2008, her party's sole remaining member of any Australian parliament...
(Australian Democrat 1993-2009) angrily stated that sex workers had been "thrown to the wolves by Parliament".
Round seven on sex industry laws. Adelaide Now Sept 27 2011
Current proposal (Key)
No further attempts to reform the law have been made for some time, however in 2010 a governing Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
backbencher and former minister, Stephanie Key
Stephanie Key
Stephanie Wendy Key served as South Australia's Minister for Social Justice, Minister for Employment, Training & Further Education, Minister for Youth, and Minister for the Status of Women in the first Rann Labor government...
, announced she would introduce a private members decriminalisation bill.
MP moves to decriminalise prostitution in South Australia, given widespread public support and support within all parties. Adelaide Now 2 June 2010
Drive for 'equality' laws for South Australia's sex workers. Adelaide Now 30 October 2010
Religious groups immediately organised opposition,
although the opposition Liberals have promised to consider it.
Sydney Morning Herald 2 June 2011
However consultations with the industry have continued
Push for decriminalisation of prostitution. ABC 1 November 2010
and in June 2011 she outlined her intended legislation. This would amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 and the Summary Offences Act 1953 to ensure sex workers have the same industrial rights and responsibilities as other workers, that minors under the age of 18 years are not involved in or associated with sex work, preventing sex services premises from being established within 200m of schools, centres for children or places of worship, allowing local government to regulate public amenity, noise, signage and location in relation to sex services premises with more than three workers, promote safe sex education and practice by clients and sex workers, and enable sex workers to report criminal matters to the police like in a similar matter to other citizens.
Let's give our sex workers modern rights. Adelaide Now 23 June 2011
She presented her proposals to the Caucus in September 2011,
SA MPs consider changes to prostitution laws. ABC Sept 27 2011
and has tabled a motion for November 24 2011 "That she have leave to introduce a Bill for an Act to decriminalise prostitution and regulate the sex work industry; to amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935, the Equal Opportunity Act 1984, the Fair Work Act 1994, the Summary Offences Act 1953 and the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1986; and for other purpose".
Notice Paper 76. Private Members Business: Bills. Nov 24 2011.
The proposal is opposed by the Family First Party
Family First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
that has ten per cent of the votes in the Legislative Council
South Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly...
, where Robert Brokenshire now opposes decriminalisation. However Police Commissioner, Mal Hyde, has stated that the laws need to change.
Other sources
- Horan S. 'More sinned against than sinning'?: Prostitution in South Australia, 1836–1914, in Daniels K (ed.) So Much Hard Work: Women and prostitution in Australian history. Fontana Collins, Sydney 1984, pp. 87–126
- Social Reform in South Australia: Sex Industry. State Library
- Sandra Kanck. Prostitution Law Reform. Australian Democrats.
- Would you like sex with that? Green Left 23 February 2000
- Prostitution in South Australia. State Library 1995
- SA Memory: The Sex industry. State Library
- Overview of the existing laws surrounding sex work in South Australia. SQWISI 2006
- Prostitution behind closed doors. The Advertiser 10 October 2009
External links
History
Prostitution has existed in TasmaniaTasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
since its early days as a penal colony, when large numbers of convict women started arriving in the 1820s. Some of the women who were transported there already had criminal records related to prostitution. Prostitution was not so much a profession as a way of life for some women to make ends meet, particularly in a society in which there was a marked imbalance of gender, and convict women had no other means of income. Certainly brothels were established by the end of the 1820s, and records show girls as young as 12 were involved. Nevertheless, the concept of 'fallen women' and division of women into 'good' and 'bad' was well established. The Van Diemen's Land Asylum for the Protection of Destitute and Unfortunate Females (1848) was the first establishment for women so designated. Other attempts were the Penitent's Homes and Magdalen Asylums as rescue missions. In 1879 like other British colonies, Tasmania passed a Contagious Diseases Act (based on similar UK legislation of the 1860s), and established Lock Hospitals in an attempt to prevent venereal diseases amongst the armed forces, at the instigation of the Royal Navy. The Act ceased to operate in 1903 in the face of repeal movements. However there was little attempt to suppress prostitution itself. What action there was against prostitution was mainly to keep it out of the public eye, using vagrancy laws. Otherwise the police ignored or colluded with prostitution.
More specific legislation dates from the early twentieth century, such as the Criminal Code Act 1924 (Crimes against Morality), and the Police Offences Act 1935. Efforts to reform legislation that was clearly ineffective began in the 1990s. Prior to the 2005 Act, soliciting by a prostitute, living on the earnings of a prostitute, keeping a disorderly house and letting a house to a tenant to use as a disorderly house were criminal offences. Sole workers were not illegal in Tasmania, nor was escort work which was the main form of prostitution in the State. Many workers were seasonal.
Reform was suggested by a government committee in 1999.
Committee report on the need for legislative regulation and reform of the sex industry 1999 (Tas)
In December 2002 Cabinet agreed to the drafting of legislation and in September 2003, approved the release of the draft Sex Industry Regulation Bill for consultation. The Bill proposed registration for operators of sexual services businesses.
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.
Sex Industry Regulation Bill (Tas)
The Bill was supported by sex workers,
Scarlet Alliance Submission on Sex Industry Regulation Bill (Tas)
The Bill included offence provisions to ensure that Tasmania met its international
obligations under the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (signed by
Australia in 2001.) It passed the House of Assembly and was tabled in the Legislative
Council, where it was soon clear that it would not be passed and was subsequently lost. It was replaced by the Sex Industry Offences Act 2005. Essentially, in response to protests the Government moved from a position of liberalising to one of further criminalising. The Act that was passed consolidated and clarified the existing law in relation to sex work by providing that it was not
illegal to be a sex worker and provide sexual services but that it was illegal for a person to
employ or otherwise control or profit from the work of individual sex workers. A review clause was included given the uncertainty as to what the right way to proceed was. The Act commenced 1 January 2006.
Current situation
Prostitution is not illegal and sex workers may provide sexual services but it is illegal for a person to employ or otherwise control or profit from the work of individual sex workers. The Sex Industry Offences Act 2005The Sex Industry Offences Act 2005
states that a person must not be a commercial operator of a sexual services business - that is, "someone who is not a self-employed sex worker and who, whether alone or with another person, operates, owns, manages or is in day-to-day control of a sexual services business".
This law explicitly outlines that it is illegal to assault a sex worker, to receive commercial sexual services, or provide or receive sexual services unless a prophylactic
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
is used.
2008 review
In 2008, the Justice Department conducted a review of the 2005 Act and received a number of submissions, in accordance with the provisions of the Act.Submission to Sex Industry Act Review 2008 (Tas), Scarlet Alliance November 2008
The report was tabled in June 2009
Report on the Review of the Sex Industry Offences Act 2005. 2009
and expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the legislation, and suggested considering alternatives.
In June 2010 the Attorney-General Lara Giddings
Lara Giddings
Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings is an Australian politician and the 44th and current Premier of Tasmania since January 2011...
announced the Government was going to proceed with reform, using former Attorney-General Judy Jackson
Judy Jackson
The Honourable Judith Louise Jackson was an Australian Labor Party politician, in Tasmania from 1986 to 2006. She was the Attorney-General and Minister for Environment in the Tasmanian Government. During her time in parliament she was a member of the Hobart based seat of Denison...
's 2003 draft legislation as a starting point.
Attorney-General outlines law reform agenda. Government of Tasmania 22 June 2010
Giddings became the Premier in a minority ALP government in January 2011. However her Attorney-general, former premier David Bartlett
David Bartlett
David John Bartlett is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania, serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison from 2004 to 2011.-Early life:He has been a resident...
, did not favour this position
Bartlett unlikely to legalise brothels. The Examiner April 2 2011
but resigned shortly afterwards, being succeeded by Brian Wightman
Brian Wightman
Brian Neal Wightman is an Australian politician. Of Northern Irish descent, he was educated in Launceston, Tasmania. He studied to be a teacher at the University of Tasmania before teaching at George Town...
.
Other sources
- Daniels K. Prostitution in Tasmania during the transition from penal settlement to 'civilized' society, in Daniels K (ed.) So Much Hard Work: Women and prostitution in Australian history. Fontana Collins, Sydney 1984, pp. 15–86
- Alexander A. The public role of women in Tasmania 1803-1914. PhD thesis, University of Tasmania, 1989
- Curran G et al. A study into the sex industry in Tasmania, Devonport 1998
- Alison Alexander The Companion to Tasmanian History: Prostitution 2006
External links
History
Victoria has a long history of debating prostitution, and was the first State to advocate regulation rather than suppression of prostitution. Brothels evaded the prohibition to brothels in the 1970s by operating as 'massage parlours', leading to pressure to regulate them. Initial attempts involved planning laws. Community concerns were loudest in the traditional MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
stroll area of St. Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
. A Working Party was assembled in 1984 and led to the Planning (Brothel) Act 1984, as a new approach. Part of the political bargaining involved in passing the act was the promise to set up a wider inquiry. The inquiry was chaired by Marcia Neave
Marcia Neave
Justice Marcia Ann Neave AO was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria, Court of Appeals division, on 22 February 2006.Before her appointment, Neave was the foundation Chair of the Victorian Law Reform Commission and Professor of Law at Monash University...
, and reported in 1985. The recommendations tried to avoid some of the issues that arose in New South Wales in 1979, and the Government attempted to implement them in the Prostitution Regulation Act 1986. However as in other States, the bill ran into considerable opposition in the upper house, was extensively amended, and consequently many parts were not proclaimed. This created an incoherent patchwork approach. Further legislation appeared, and another report in 2002.
Attorney-General's Street Prostitution Advisory Group 2002 (Vic)
Regulation
The Prostitution Control Act 1994Prostitution Control Act 1994 legalises and regulates the operations of brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s and escort agencies
Escort agency
Escort agencies are companies that provide escorts for the agency's clients. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room , or at the escort's residence . Some agencies also provide escorts for longer durations, who may stay...
in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. The difference between the two is that in the case of a brothel clients come to the place of business, which is subject to local council planning controls. In the case of an escort agency, clients phone the agency and arrange for a sex worker to come to their homes or motels. A brothel must obtain a permit from the local council.
s21A
A brothel or escort agency must not advertise its services.
s17, 18
Also, a brothel operator must not allow alcohol to be consumed at the brothel,
s21
nor apply for a liquor licence for the premises; nor may they allow a person under the age of 18 years to enter a brothel nor employ as a prostitute a person under 18 years of age,
Prostitution Control Act 1994 - s11A
though the age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
in Victoria is 16 years.
Crimes Act 1958, s45(1)
The most recent changes occurred in the Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (February 2010).
These changes came into effect in November 2010. Imporetantly, prostitution has been replaced by Sex Work, throughout. The act is now referred to as the Sex Work Act 1994.
Owner-operated brothels and private escort workers are not required to obtain a license, but must be registered, and escorts from brothels are permitted. If only one or two prostitutes (also called sex workers) run a brothel or escort agency, which does not employ other prostitutes, they also do not need a licence, but are required to be registered. However, in all other cases, the operator of a brothel or escort agency must be licensed. The licensing process enables the licensing authority to check on any criminal history of an applicant. All new brothels are limited to having no more than six rooms. However, larger brothels which existed before the Act was passed were automatically given licences and continue to operate, though cannot increase the number of rooms. Sex workers employed by licensed brothels are not required to be licensed or registered.Consumer Affairs Victoria - Proposed Prostitution Control Regulations 2006, p8.
A person under 18 years is not permitted to be a prostitute (s5-7), and sex work must not be forced
Forced prostitution
Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution, is the act of performing sexual activity in exchange for money on a non-voluntary basis. There are a wide range of entry routes into prostitution, ranging from "voluntary and deliberate" entry, "semi-voluntary" based on pressure of...
.
s8
Reality
As at November 2005, there were 95 licensed brothels in Victoria and 2007 registered small owner-operators; and of these, 2003 were escort agents, two brothels, and two combined brothels and escort agents. In the 95 licensed brothels, there were 505 rooms; and four rooms in small exempt brothels. There were 157 licensed prostitution service providers (i.e. operators) - 47 for brothels, 23 for escort agencies and 87 of combined brothel-escort agencies.More than one licensee may operate a single brothel (eg in partnership); some licensees are currently not trading; and small exempt owner-operators may operate some brothels.
Street prostitution
Street prostitution
Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, beaches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a...
continues to be illegal,
http://www.studyon.com.au/vic/legal3-4/print/hot-topics/008-prostitution/index.html a big issue but is publicly known to exist and visible in some areas.
One of the objectives of the Act was to eliminate the criminal connection to the operations of brothels. However, the success of this objective has been questioned, with unlicensed, illegal and abusive operations still being in existence.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~beware/facts.htm
According to some estimates, there are 400 illegal brothels in Victoria.
The Age 18/10/2008: Sex called off in hunt for illegal brothels
But a study from 2006, in which advertisements from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
newspapers published in July 2006 were analysed based on the language used in order to identify premises likely to be unlicensed brothels estimated that the number of unlicensed brothels in Melbourne was 70 at most, with a lower limit of 13.
Chen MY et al. Estimating the number of unlicensed brothels in Melbourne. ANZJ Pub Health 2010 34: 67-71
The AAEI (Australian Adult Entertainment Industry) states on its website that "Victoria currently has around 100 licensed brothels and escort agencies and an estimated 300 illegal brothels".
http://www.aaei.com.au/licensedbrothels.htm
Economics and gender inequity
In a study of money making in the legalized prostitution industry in the Australian state of Victoria, Sullivan (2005) noted prostitution businesses made revenues of $1,780 million Australian in 2004/5 and the sex industry is growing at a rate of 4.6% annually (a rate higher than GDP).In the state of Victoria, there are 3.1 million instances of buying sex per year as compared with a total male population of 1.3 million men.
Sullivan, Mary "What Happens When Prostitution Becomes Work? An Update on Legalisation of Prostitution in Australia" Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Australia 2005
In the state, women make up 90% of the labour force and earn, on average, $400–$500 per week, do not receive holiday or sick pay, and work on average four 10-hour shifts per week. In addition, with the overall growth in the industry since legalisation in the mid-1980s and increased competition between prostitution businesses, earnings have decreased.
20 years ago there were 3000 to 4000 women in prostitution as a whole, now there are 4500 women in the legal trade alone, with more in the illegal trade, estimated to be 4 to 5 times larger than the legal trade.
The sex industry is run by six large companies, which tend to control a wide array of prostitution operations, making self-employment very difficult.
Brothels take 50% to 60% of the money paid by johns and fine prostituted women for refusing johns.
Between 1995 and 1998, the Prostitution Control Board, a state government body, collected $991,000 Australian in prostitution licensing fees.
In addition, hoteliers, casinos, taxi drivers, clothing manufacturers and retailers, newspapers, and advertising agencies, to mention a few, profit from prostitution in the state.
There is one prostitution business in Australia that is publicly traded on the Australian stock exchange.
Finally, gangs and other criminal elements make money in prostitution and often use their legal businesses to launder money from the illegal trade. The illegal trade is the focus of much trafficking and underage prostitution.
Other sources
- Consumer Affairs Victoria. Proposed Prostitution Control Regulations 2006
- Daniels, K., Johnston, D., Jackson, S., Otto, D., "St Kilda Voices", in Daniels, K. (ed.) So Much Hard Work: Women and prostitution in Australian history, Fontana Collins, Sydney, 1984, pp. 335–382
- Sullivan, Mary "What Happens When Prostitution Becomes Work? An Update on Legalisation of Prostitution in Australia" Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Australia 2005
- Prostitution Culture: Legalised brothel prostitution in Victoria, Australia. Sheila Jeffreys CATWA 1992
Western Australia
Like other Australian states, WAWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
has had a long history of debates and attempts to reform prostitution laws. In the absence of reform, varying degrees of toleration have existed. The current legislation is the Prostitution Control Act 2000. Prostitution itself is not illegal, although many activities associated with it are.
Early period
Prostitution in Western AustraliaWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
has been intimately tied to the history of gold mining. In these areas a quasi-official arrangement existed between premise owners and the authorities. This was frequently justified as a harm reduction measure. Like other Australian colonies, legislation tended to be influence by developments in Britain. The Police Act 1892 was no different, establishing penalties for soliciting or vagrancy, while the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1892 dealt with procurement. Brothel keepers were prosecuted under the Municipal Institutions Act 1895, by which all municipalities had passed brothel suppression by-laws in 1905. Laws were further strengthened by Police Act Amendment Act 1902, and Criminal Code 1902. despite this the brothels of Kalgoorlie were legendary. Prostitution was much debated in the media and parliament, but despite much lobbying, venereal diseases were not included in the Health Act 1911. The war years and the large number of military personnel in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
concentrated attention on the issue, however during much of Western Australian history, control of prostitution was largely a police affair rather than a parliamentary one, as a process of 'containment'.
Twentieth Century
In addition to the above the following laws dealt with prostitution: Criminal Code (1913), Criminal Law Amendment Act 1988 Pt. 2, Law Reform (Decriminalization Of Sodomy) Act 1989, Acts Amendment (Evidence) Act 1991, Criminal Law Amendment Act (No 2) 1992, and the Prostitution Control Act 2000.Current era
Prostitution Bills were also introduced in 2002 and 2003. The latter was a bill to regulate brothels and prostitution but was defeated in the upper house. This was followed by the Criminal Law Amendment (Simple Offences) Act 2004. Approaches reflected the ideology of the particular ruling party, as an attempt was made to end police 'containment' and make control a specific parliamentary responsibility.Carpenter Government legislation
Much of the debate in the last two years centred on the Prostitution Amendment Act 2008,
Prostitution Amendment Act 2008 (WA)
introduced in 2007 by the Alan Carpenter's
Alan Carpenter
Alan John Carpenter is a former Australian politician. He was the 28th Premier of Western Australia, serving from 2006 to 2008. He took office following the resignation of Dr Geoff Gallop...
Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Government. Although it passed the upper house narrowly and received Royal Assent on 14 April 2008, it was not proclaimed before the 2008 state election
Western Australian state election, 2008
A general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...
, in which the Carpenter and the ALP narrowly lost power in September, and therefore remains inactive. The Act was based partly on the approach taken in 2003 in New Zealand
Prostitution in New Zealand
Prostitution , brothel keeping, living off the proceeds of someone else's prostitution and street solicitation are legal and regulated in New Zealand...
(and which in turn was based on the approach in NSW). It would have decriminalised brothels and would have required certification (certification would not have applied to independent operators).
Therefore the 2000 Act is currently operative. Brothels may be said to exist in a legal grey area, although 'containment' has officially been disbanded, in Perth in 1958 and more recently in Kalgoorlie.
Barnett Government proposal
In opposition the ALP criticised the lack of action on prostitution by the coalition government.
Brothels in WA suburbs 'uncontrolled': opposition. WA Today 14 March 2010
The debate had been reopened when the Liberal-National Barnett
Colin Barnett
Colin James Barnett , Australian politician, is the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, the 29th and current Premier of Western Australia since the 2008 election and served as the Treasurer of Western Australia in 2010. He was sworn into office by Governor Ken Michael on 23 September 2008...
Government announced plans to regulate brothels in December 2009.
Plans to legalise prostitution fast-tracked. Perth Now 19 Dec 2009
More information was announced by Attorney-General
Attorney-General of Western Australia
The Attorney-General of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia's system of law and justice. Before the advent of representative government in 1870, the title was Advocate-General of Western Australia...
Christian Porter
Christian Porter
Charles Christian Porter is a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Bateman and is Treasurer and Attorney-General in the Liberal-National government. He entered Parliament after winning the seat of Murdoch in a by-election in 2008 following...
in June 2010.
Legalised sex trade to clear suburbs. The Australian 21 June 2010
Hundreds of brothels tipped to shut as Western Australia legalises prostitution. News.com 10 June 2010
Religious groups continue to oppose any liberalisation, as do elements within the government party
WA Government has not done its homework on dangerous brothel trade. Christian Today 21 June 2010
Opposition questions delay in prostitution laws ABC 18 June 2010
although Porter has denied this.
No split on prostitution says Attorney General. ABC 18 June 2010
The Liberal-National plans will require the repeal of the unproclaimed Labor legislation of 2008.
His critics state that Porter "would accommodate the market demand for prostitution by setting up a system of licensed brothels in certain non-residential areas" and that people "should accept that prostitution will occur and legalise the trade, because we can never suppress it entirely" and that it is "like alcohol or gambling – saying it should be regulated rather than banned."
WA Attorney-General fails to persuade on brothel law. Christian Today 10 June 2010
Porter has challenged his critics to come up with a better model and rejected the Swedish example of only criminalising clients.
Attorney General challenges anti-prostitution lobby. The Record 17 June 2010
These represent a change in thinking since an interview he gave in March 2009.
Christian Porter. Prostitution laws. March 2009
However he is following through on a promise he made in early 2009 to clear the suburbs of sex work.
West Australian 23 May 2009
He was not a member of the previous parliament that debated the ALP legislation.
Porter released a ministerial statement
Ministerial Statement 25 November 2010
and made a speech in the legislature on 25 November 2010,
Hansard Prostitution 2010 (25 November)
WA looks at tougher anti-brothel laws. WA Today 25 November 2010
inviting public submissions. The plan was immediately rejected by religious groups.
Christian Lobby says WA prostitution laws do not go far enough. Family Directory 23 December 2010
Women are worth more. Australian Christian Lobby
By the time the consultation closed on 11 February 2011, 164 submissions were received, many repeating many of the arguments of the receding years. This time Porter found himself criticised by both sides of the 2007 debate, for instance churches that supported the Coalition position in opposition, now criticised them,
Churches oppose legal brothels. West Australian 12 February 2011
while sex worker groups that supported the Carpenter proposals continued to oppose coalition policies,
Prostitutes blast brothel law plans. West Australian 14 February 2011
Submission of Scarlet Alliance 27 January 2011
as do health groups.
Whose safety? Regulation of the sex industry in Western Australia. Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations January 2011
The majority of the population (60%) continue to support legalising brothels, but it is unclear whether they prefer the ALP or Coalition version of this.
Prostitution Bill 2011
On 14 June 2011 the Minister announced
Ministerial Statement 14 June 2011
No sex in the suburbs under new prostitution laws. WA Today 14 June 2011
a Green Bill
Prostitution Bill 2011
was available for public comment over a six week period. Porter explained the purpose of the legislation thus: "The Prostitution Bill 2011 will not only ban brothels from residential areas but also ensure appropriate regulatory and licensing schemes are in place for those very limited non-residential areas where prostitution will be permitted and heavily regulated." An FAQ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
sheet was also developed.
Prostitution Bill 2011 FAQs
Publication of the Bill has not shifted the debate which remains deeply polarised, any legalisation being bitterly opposed by conservative religious groups, despite Porter's assurances that his government does not condone sex work.
Opposing liberalisation of prostitution. Justice Mandate
Please help stop the legalisation of prostitution in Western Australia. Life ministries
Women are worth more.
Sex Workers and health organisations remain just as committed to opposing the proposals.
Nothing About Us Without US. July 2011
Scarlet Alliance response
Following consultation, the government announced a series of changes to the bill representing compromises with its critics,
Significant Changes to the Prostitution Bill Nov 2011
which was then introduced into parliament on 3 Nov 2011,
Prostitution Bill passed in Parliament expected to regulate the industry. Perth Now 3 Nov 2011
where it received first and second reading. (Current Bills before Parliament)
Prostitution crackdown will push all sex workers out of suburbs. Sydney Morning Herald 3 Nov 2011
Sex workers continue to oppose it.
Sex workers fear WA prostitution bill. News.com 3 2011
Will new laws force prostitution underground? ABC 4 Nov 2011
Significantly, the opposition Labor Party are opposed to the bill,
WA prostitution bill causes controversy. 9 News 3 Nov 2011
both political parties now agreeing on the need to decriminalise the indoor market, but differing in how to go about it. Since the government is in a minority it will require the support of several independent members to ensure passage through the Legislative Assembly.
Prostitution to be banned in suburban Perth. Western Australian 3 Nov 2011
History
- Elaine McKewon: The historical geography of prostitution in Perth, Western Australia. Aust Geog Volume 34, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 297 – 310
- Davidson R. Dealing with the 'Social Evil': Prostitution and the police in Perth and on the Eastern goldfields, 1895–1924, in Daniels K (ed.) So Much Hard Work: Women and prostitution in Australian history. Fontana Collins, Sydney 1984, pp. 162–191
Politics
- Prostitution Law Reform for Western Australia 2007
- Weitzer R. Legalizing Prostitution: Morality politics in Western Australia. Brit J Crim (2009) 49, 88–105
- The women behind our sex industry: New laws on prostitution by the Barnett Government in 2010 will put the spotlight on a taboo topic. Sunday Times 3 January 2010
- Attorney General challenges anti-prostitution lobby. The Record, 17 June 2010
Research
External links
- Attorney-General's Office
- Parliament of Western Australia
- Bills before Parliament See Prostitution Bill, under P
See also
- History of AustraliaHistory of AustraliaThe History of Australia refers to the history of the area and people of Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Aboriginal Australians are believed to have first arrived on the Australian mainland by boat from the Indonesian archipelago between 40,000 to...
- Daily Planet (brothel)Daily Planet (brothel)Daily Planet is a licensed brothel in Melbourne, Australia. It entered the news in 2003 when it became one of the first brothels listed on a stock exchange. The brothel has won the Australian Adult Industry Award for "Best Brothel Overall" in the years 2004-2008.The 18-room brothel is located at 9...
- Scarlet AllianceScarlet AllianceScarlet Alliance is the national peak sex worker organisation of Australia and was formed in 1989. Scarlet Alliance, Australian sex workers Association, through its objectives, policies and programs, aims to achieve equality, social, legal, political, cultural and economic justice for past and...
- Convict women in AustraliaConvict women in AustraliaConvict women in Australia were the female segment of British prisoners transported during the 18th and 19th centuries to carry out their sentences in what is now Australia....
Further reading
- Perkins R, Prestage G, Sharp R, Lovejoy F. Sex Work and Sex Workers in Australia. UNSW Press, Sydney 1994
- Ronald Weitzer, "Legalizing Prostitution: Morality Politics in Western Australia," British Journal of Criminology 49 (1) January 2009, pages 88–105
- Crofts and Summerfield. The licensing of sex work in Australia and New Zealand. Murdoch Law Journal 13(2) 269 2006
History
- Daniels K (ed.) So Much Hard Work: Women and prostitution in Australian history. Fontana Collins, Sydney 1984
- Sullivan BA. The Politics of Sex: Prostitution and Pornography in Australia since 1945. Cambridge University Press 1997
- Prostitution regulation in colonial and early federal Australia, in Perkins R., Working girls : prostitutes, their life and social control. Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1991. ISBN 0 642 15877 0
- Frances R. (1994) "The History of Female Prostitution in Australia" in Perkins R, Prestage G, Sharp R. & Lovejoy F (eds.) (1994) Sex Work and Sex Workers in Australia. University of New South Wales Press: Sydney. pp.27-52.
- Summers A. Damned Whores and God's Police: The Colonization of Women in Australia, 3rd ed. Penguin, Melbourne 2002
- Marcia NeaveMarcia NeaveJustice Marcia Ann Neave AO was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria, Court of Appeals division, on 22 February 2006.Before her appointment, Neave was the foundation Chair of the Victorian Law Reform Commission and Professor of Law at Monash University...
, Prostitution laws in Australia: Past history and current trends, in Perkins et al. (ed.) 1994 - John McLaren, "Whores, Soiled Doves or Working Women? Law, Society and the Sex Trade in Australia, Canada and Thailand" in Douglas M. Johnston and Gerry Ferguson, Asia-Pacific Legal Development (Vancouver, UBC Press, 1998), 353-402
External links
- Australia Prostitution Information
- Susan Pinto, Anita Scandia and Paul Wilson, Australian Institute of Criminology. Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice No. 22: Prostitution laws in Australia, May 1990
- Working girls : prostitutes, their life and social control
- Prostitutes use university in visa racket
- Prostitution: International answers
- Health Consumers' Council Prostitution Control Act Submission
- Scarlet Alliance