Prostitution legislation is a State and Territory responsibility and differs widely. This page has a State by State summary with links to the relevant legislation and regulatory body if it exists as well as some background information.
Legislation is reviewed from time to time and updates on the current push for decriminalisation can be found here. Although it was tacitly tolerated earlier, the first legislation to legalise brothel prostitution in Victoria was passed in , via the Planning Brothels Act Street prostitution remains illegal. The aim of legalisation was to remove the involvement of organised crime in the industry and to protect women through regulation and licensing.
There is widespread agreement that legalisation has failed. Prostitution in NSW is decriminalised, with brothels coming under local council planning regulations like any other business. Several variations were made to the regulation of prostitution over the following decades, until the Disorderly Houses Amendment Act , which decriminalised brothel prostitution and moved brothels into the sphere of local planning.
Some activities remain illegal, such as the exploitation of children in prostitution. Street prostitution, unlicensed brothels, massage parlour prostitution and outcalls from licensed brothels remain illegal. Brothels are illegal in South Australia as is soliciting in public places, receiving money from the prostitution of another person and procuring. Two speeches, one by the member introducing the bill, and the other, by a member opposing it, can be found here.
There is a useful summary of the various legislative attempts to decriminalise over the years in the first speech. In Sept , a committee was established to inquire into and report on the bill. The report was tabled in May In July , the Legislative Council voted in favour of the bill, which has now gone to the Legislative Assembly for debate and vote.
