Prostitution in Australia

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.

Eastern Australian states and territories liberalised their laws in the late twentieth century, however liberalisation has been restricted by upper houses of Parliament of several States, with legislation either being defeated or extensively amended. New South Wales was the first State to adopt a different model, decriminalising prostitution in 1979. This in turn became a model for New Zealand and a failed attempt in Western Australia in 2008. Victoria and Queensland adopted different models, based on legalisation, Victoria in 1986 and Queensland in 1992. In the remaining States of Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia, despite intense debate and many proposed legislative reforms there has been no change in the laws. In the territories the ACT adopted partial decriminalisation in 1992, and the Northern Territory also allowed a partial decriminalisation in 1992. In all jurisdictions the issue remains deeply divisive.

  Prostitution legal and regulated

  Prostitution (the exchange of sex for money) legal, but brothels are illegal, prostitution is not regulated

History

Prior to federation 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 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 (STI) 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.

Health

Health and safety regulations and peer education have been effective at keeping STIs in the sex worker population at a low level, similar to the general population, and comparable amongst the States. (Maginn 2013). Although there had been claims that sex workers were responsible for STI levels in mining communities, subsequent research has shown this not to be true.

Human trafficking in Australia

Main article: Human trafficking in Australia

The number of people trafficked into Australia 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.

Australian Capital Territory

History

Historically, prior to passage of the 1992 Prostitution Act, prostitution policy in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) consisted of "containment and control" under the 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 Prostitution Act 1992, a/k/a "Anna's Law," brothels are legal, but sex workers are required to register with the Office of Regulatory Services (ORS). 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 and the Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2011 (Part 1.7), a minor administrative amendment.

Legislative Review 2011

The legal situation was reviewed again with a Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety’s inquiry into the ACT Prostitution Act 1992, following the death of a 17 year old woman, Janine Cameron, from a heroin overdose in a brothel in 2008.

The inquiry was established on 28 October 2010. The committee's terms of reference were as follows:

• 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 was chaired by Liberal MLA Vicki Dunne.

Written submissions were required by 26 February 2011 at which time 58 submissions had been received. Submissions to the committee included Scarlet Alliance. The Alliance requested 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 also called for removal of registration and for an expansion into residential areas. As in other States and Territories, conservative Christian groups such as the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) called for criminalising clients. Groups supporting this position included the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australi, while sex workers argued against it. The Catholic Church has also opposed it.

Ms Dunne stated that the committee would consider exit schemes however Attorney-General Simon Corbell stated that it was unlikely there will be any substantive changes to the status quo. The committee completed its hearings on evidence on 13 July 2011, and issued its report in February 2012. The Government issued a formal response in June, stating it would follow most of the recommendations and that the inquiry had affirmed that sex work was a legitimate occupation.

In the October 2012 elections the opposition Liberals campaigned on a platform to oppose allowing more than one sex worker to use a premise in suburban areas but were not successful in preventing a further term of the ALP Green alliance.

Advocacy

Advocacy for sex workers in the ACT is undertaken by SWOP ACT (Sex Work Outreach Project).

Other sources

• Bernard Collaery. The Sex Industry in the ACT, in Sex Industry and Public Policy. Australian Institute of Criminology 1991
• Brian Brinkler. Policing of the sex industry in the Australian Capital Territory, in Sex Industry and Public Policy AIC 1991 p. 249
• Australian Capital Territory. Legislative Assembly. Select Committee on HIV, Illegal Drugs and Prostitution 1991, Prostitution in the ACT: Interim Report, Canberra.
• A. J. Neilson. Criminal Behaviour? A Comparison of Prostitution Policy in Sweden and the Australian Capital Territory. Cross Sections Vol 7 2011. ANU

External links

• Government of ACT
• ACT Legislative Assembly
• Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety: Inquiry into the operation of the Prostitution Act 1992
• Nothing About Us Without us: ACT
• Scarlet Alliance: ACT

New South Wales

New South Wales has the most liberal legislation on prostitution in Australia, with almost complete decriminalisation, and 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. 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)
• 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 illegal brothels in Sydney outnumbered licensed operations by four to one.

History

Early era

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 legislation 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.

Modern era

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 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 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, 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.

As promised in its 2011 election campaign, the Liberal Party sought review of the regulation of brothels. In September 2012 it issues a discussion paper on review of the regulations. It stated that the purpose was threefold, the protection of residential amenity; protection of sex workers and safeguarding public health (Maginn 2013). Nevertheless there is no evidence of a negative effect of brothels on the community.

Politics

Generally prostitution policy in New South Wales has been bipartisan. However in 2010, the Liberal opposition 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. The last reform was in 2007, with the Brothels Legislation Act. The Liberals were duly elected as the new Government in that election.

Other sources

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

• Sandra 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 Criminology 1991
• [http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/previous%20series/proceedings/1-27/~/media/publications/proceedings/16/perkins.pdf Roberta 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 Criminology 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
• Donovan, B., Harcourt, C., Egger, S., Watchirs Smith, L., Schneider, K., Kaldor, J.M., Chen, M.Y., Fairley, C.K., Tabrizi, S. The Sex Industry in New South Wales: a Report to the NSW Ministry of Health. Sydney: Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales. (2012)

Reports

• The Regulation of Prostitution: A review of Recent Developments. Parliament of NSW 1999

External links

• Nothing about us without us
• Scarlet Alliance
• Sydney Escorts Directory

Northern Territory

Brothels are illegal in the Northern Territory under the Prostitution Regulation Act 2004. The Northern Territory Licensing 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. As elsewhere in Australia any liberalisation is vigorously opposed by religious groups.

History

Unlike other parts of Australia, the Northern Territory 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'.

Pressure from reform came from women's groups such as Women Against Discrimination and Exploitation (WADE). (Bonney 1997) In 1992 the Prostitution Regulation Act reformed and consolidated the common law and statute law relating to prostitution. The first report of the Escort Agency Licensing Board in 1993 recommended further reform, but the Government did not accept this, feeling there would be widespread opposition to legalising brothels. The Attorney-General's Department conducted a review in 1996. A further review was subsequently conducted in 1998. 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
• Annie Bonney. Prostitution in the Northern Territory: An overview of the 1990s. Northern Territory Library Research Paper 17, 1997.
• Suzy Kruhse-Mountburton. The contemporary client of prostitution in Darwin, Australia. PhD Thesis Griffith University, 1996
• Prostitution Regulations

Queensland

Brothels are legal. They are licensed by the Prostitution Licensing Authority (PLA). 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:

• 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.

• Sex work in a licensed brothel.

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, 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.

History

Much emphasis was placed in colonial Queensland on the role of immigration and the indigenous population in introducing and sustaining prostitution, while organisations such as the Social Purity Society described what they interpreted as widespread female depravity. 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.

Various amendments have been introduced, the most recent in August 2009. However this Bill has not moved forward beyond second reading introduction.

There are continuing reports that an illegal sector continues to thrive.

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

• Prostitution Licensing Authority
• Crime and Misconduct Commission
• Brisbane Escorts Directory

South Australia

Brothels are illegal in South Australia, under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 and the Summary Offences Act 1953. Soliciting in public places, receiving money from the prostitution of another, and procuring are illegal, but the act of prostitution itself is not.

History

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 vagrancy 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.

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). 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 election. The Evidence Act 1978 was amended to allow witness immunity

Millhouse (1980)

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.

Pickles (1986)

A further bill was introduced in 1986 (Carolyn Pickles ALP MLC 1985–2002) but dropped on 18 March 1987 due to Liberal opposition and community pressure, with a 13-2 vote.

Gilfillan (1991)

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.

Brindel (1993)

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 23 February. 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. The Decriminalisation) Bill was discharged on 6 July, but the Regulation Bill was lost on a conscience vote 16 to 28 on 27 July.

Cameron (1998)

Meanwhile the Committee released its final report on 21 August 1996, 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.

Brokenshire (1999)

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. 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".

Key (2012)

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. Religious groups immediately organised opposition, although the opposition Liberals promised to consider it. Consultations with the industry continued and in June 2011 she outlined her intended legislation to amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 and the Summary Offences Act 1953 to ensure sex workers had the same industrial rights and responsibilities as other workers, that minors under the age of 18 years were 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.

She presented her proposals to the Caucus in September 2011, and tabled a motion for 24 November 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".

The proposal was opposed by the Family First Party that had ten per cent of the votes in the Legislative Council, where Robert Brokenshire now opposed decriminalisation. However Police Commissioner, Mal Hyde, stated that the laws need to change. After considerable discussion and some compromises the Sex Work Reform Bill was introduced in May 2012, but was defeated by one vote, 20 to 19 in a conscience vote on second reading in November 2012.

Other

Status of Women Minister Gail Gago introduced a similar bill in the Legislative Council, but withdrew it following the defeat of Steph Key's Bill.

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

• Nothing about us without us
• Scarlet Alliance
• Adelaide Escorts Directory
• Parliament of South Australia
• Steph Key MLA

Tasmania

History

Prostitution has existed in Tasmania 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 and escort work, which was the main form of prostitution in the stat, were legal in Tasmania. Many workers were seasonal.

Reform was suggested by a government committee in 1999. 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. The Bill was supported by sex workers,

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 legal 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 because of the uncertainty as to what the right way to proceed was. The Act commenced 1 January 2006.

Current situation

Prostitution is legal, 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 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". Street prostitution is illegal.

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.

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. The report was tabled in June 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. 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 but resigned shortly afterwards, being succeeded by Brian Wightman.

2012 review

Wightman released a discussion paper in January 2012. As expected this was opposed by religious groups such as the Presbyterian Church. Submissions were invited up to the end of March, and were received from a wide range of individuals and groups. Wightman declined to refer the matter to the Law Reform Institute. After the review Wightman stated that there were no plans to make prostitution illegal "Legal issues around the sex industry can be emotive and personal for many people .... The Government's top priority is the health and safety of sex workers and the Tasmanian community."

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

• Scarlet Alliance
• Justice Department

Victoria

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 Melbourne 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.

Regulation

The Prostitution Control Act 1994 legalises and regulates the operations of brothels 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. A brothel or escort agency must not advertise its services. Also, a brothel operator must not allow alcohol to be consumed at the brothel, 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, though the age of consent in Victoria is 16 years.

The most recent changes occurred in the Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (February 2010). These changes came into effect in November 2010. Importantly, 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. A person under 18 years is not permitted to be a prostitute (s5-7), and sex work must not be forced.

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.

Street prostitution continues to be illegal, 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. According to some estimates, there are 400 illegal brothels in Victoria. 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. 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". The major problem with some of these estimates of illegal brothels is they do not state exactly how they are estimated.

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.

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. However these estimates are from a source which has an underlying agenda against prostitution. There is absolutely no evidence that the illegal trade is anywhere near as large as claimed by these sources. [citation needed]

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

External links

• Melbourne Escorts Directory

Western Australia

Like other Australian states, Western Australia 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 legal, but many activities associated with it, such as pimping and running brothels, are illegal. Despite the fact that brothels are illegal, the state has a long history of tolerating and unofficially regulating them.

History

Early period

Prostitution in Western Australia 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'.

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 on the subject under this government centred on the Prostitution Amendment Act 2008, 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 remained 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 continued to be in force. Brothels existed in a legal grey area, although 'containment' had officially been disbanded, in Perth in 1958 and subsequently in Kalgoorlie.

Barnett Government proposal

In opposition the ALP criticised the lack of action on prostitution by the coalition government. The debate had been reopened when the Liberal-National Barnett Government announced plans to regulate brothels in December 2009. More information was announced by Attorney-General Christian Porter in June 2010. Religious groups continued to oppose any liberalisation, as did elements within the government party although Porter denied this. The Liberal-National plans required the repeal of the unproclaimed Labor legislation of 2008.

His critics stated 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."

Porter challenged his critics to come up with a better model and rejected the Swedish example of only criminalising clients. These represent a change in thinking since an interview he gave in March 2009. However he followed through on a promise he made in early 2009 to clear the suburbs of sex work. He was not a member of the previous parliament that debated the ALP legislation.

Porter released a ministerial statement and made a speech in the legislature on 25 November 2010, inviting public submissions. The plan was immediately rejected by religious groups. By the time the consultation closed on 11 February 2011, 164 submissions were received, many repeating many of the arguments of the preceding 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, while sex worker groups that supported the Carpenter proposals continued to oppose coalition policies, as did health groups.

The majority of the population (60%) continued to support legalising brothels, but it was unclear whether they preferred the ALP or Coalition version of this.

Prostitution Bill 2011

On 14 June 2011 the Minister announced a Green Bill 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." A FAQ sheet was also developed. Publication of the Bill did not shift the debate which remained deeply polarised, any legalisation being bitterly opposed by conservative religious groups, despite Porter's assurances that his government did not condone sex work. Sex Workers and health organisations remained just as committed to opposing the proposals.

Following consultation, the government announced a series of changes to the bill representing compromises with its critics, which was then introduced into parliament on 3 Nov 2011, where it received first and second reading.

Sex workers continued to oppose it. Significantly, the opposition Labor Party opposed the bill, both political parties agreeing on the need to decriminalise the indoor market, but differing in how to go about it. Since the government was in a minority it required the support of several independent members to ensure passage through the Legislative Assembly. In practice it proved difficult to muster sufficient public support, and the Bill did not attract sufficient support in parliament either. Porter left State politics in June 2012, being succeeded by Michael Mischin. Mischin admitted it would be unlikely that the bill would pass in that session. This proved to be true since the legislature was prorogued on 30 January 2013, pending the general election on 9 March, and thus all bills lapsed. The Barnett government was returned in that election with a clear majority.

Other sources

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

• The Sex Industry in WA. LASH 2010

See also

• Western Australian Legislative Assembly

External links

• Attorney-General's Office
• Parliament of Western Australia
• Bills before Parliament See Prostitution Bill, under P
• Perth Escorts Directory

Australia

See also

• History of Australia
• Daily Planet (brothel)
• Scarlet Alliance
• Convict women in Australia

Further reading

• Sex industry and public policy. Australian Institute of Criminology 1991
• Perkins R, Prestage G, Sharp R, Lovejoy F. Sex Work and Sex Workers in Australia. UNSW Press, Sydney 1994
• Crofts and Summerfield. The licensing of sex work in Australia and New Zealand. Murdoch Law Journal 13(2) 269 2006
• Paul Maginn: Evidence not morality should guide sex work policy. The Conversation 19 February 2013

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
• The women's movement and prostitution politics in Australia, in Outshoorn J (ed.) The Politics of Prostitution: Women's Movements, Democratic States and the Globalisation of Sex Commerce. Cambridge UP 2004
• 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 Neave, 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
• Melbourne Escort Directory
• Prostitutes use university in visa racket
• Prostitution: International answers
• Health Consumers' Council Prostitution Control Act Submission
• Scarlet Alliance