Sex work could soon be decriminalised in Queensland, if a bill tabled by the state government today is successful.
If passed, the bill would repeal existing criminal offences and decriminalise all forms of sex work in the state. It would also create new offences for the protection of sex workers and strengthen worker’s protections against unfair discrimination.
Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath told the ABC that everyone had the right to feel safe at work, noting that current laws had been referred to as “draconian” and “outdated” by advocates.
“Feedback from the industry has been that current laws criminalise safety strategies used by sex workers,” she said.
“The proposed reforms to decriminalise the sex work industry will put in place proper regulation, so the industry doesn’t have to choose between safety or [operating] legally.”
The state government had planned to introduce the laws last year but had failed to make progress, culminating in protests on the steps of the state government executive building in December.
Queensland sex worker advocacy group Respect Inc said the current laws had been failing and endangering sex workers in multiple ways.
“Queensland laws have failed,” it said.
“They failed to provide safe working environments for sex workers, failed to effectively regulate the industry, failed to deliver a cost-effective system of regulation, and failed to protect against police corruption.”
It said the only solution was the full decriminalisation of sex work.
“Decriminalisation is not ‘no regulation’. When sex work is no longer criminalised, the laws and regulations that apply to other businesses apply to the sex industry,” it said.
“Many Queensland laws are not workable and criminalise basic sex worker safety strategies. It is [our] position that full decriminalisation is the best legal framework for sex workers in Queensland’.”
It said that decriminalisation would give sex workers the same rights and responsibilities as workers in other industries.
Under current legislation, sole operating sex workers are banned from working with each other in the same property or in the same business, and they cannot hire people for personal security.
If the bill is passed, the reforms would bring Queensland in line with other states and territories, most recently Victoria which fully decriminalised sex work in 2022.
