The state of Victoria in southeastern Australia has announced its first large-scale review of the sex industry in more than 35 years
A day after the Northern Territory parliament voted to decriminalize sex work, the Victoria government has announced the first large-scale review of laws regulating the industry since 1985.
The six-month inquiry will examine workplace safety, stigma and criminal activity within the industry, and will be led by Reason Party MP and sex worker advocate Fiona Patten.
Patten says the current legislation is simply not “fit for purpose”.
The laws were written before the internet was commonplace and therefore don’t recognize that sex work is often advertised online or operates in an online environment.
They also fail to recognize that many people now work in the gig economy, Patten said.
“It’s not about legal or illegal brothels,” she told reporters on Wednesday.
“But certainly the legislation, because it is so outdated, has made it very difficult for people to actually even comply with the law.”
The consumer affairs minister in Victoria, Marlene Kairouz, said the review was aimed at keeping sex workers safe.
Among the matters Patten will consider are massage parlours offering sex work services.
“As we’ve seen over the years, there’s been a proliferation of massage parlours popping up all over the state, and unfortunately a lot of sex workers are operating outside the legal framework,” she said.
Victoria’s move towards further liberalization follows the Northern Territory parliament passing legislation to decriminalise sex work.
The changes allow the sex industry to operate within existing laws applying to other businesses, including employment, occupational health and safety, workers compensation, taxation and discrimination.
