Sex workers will soon have the same rights in Victoria as other employees after the state government announced it would decriminalise the industry.
In a statement on Friday, the government said a range of changes will be made in the next two years to increase sex worker safety, reduce stigma and improve access to government health and justice services.
It said the current sex work regulatory system – which has not been updated for close to three decades – is out of date and no longer fit for purpose.
Consumer Affairs Minister Melissa Horne said decriminalisation would ensure that sex work is safe.
“Every Victorian deserves to feel safe in their place of work," she said in a statement.
Criminal offences to protect children and workers from coercion and address other forms of non-consensual sex work will continue to be enforced by state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Victoria has now moved to follow other jurisdictions in making the move including New South Wales, which decriminalised sex work in 1995.
The industry for sex workers said the change was overdue, and that decriminalisation is a first step towards unwinding the many years of harm and discrimination workers have faced.
“Under the current laws, sex workers are forced to make choices based on the dangerous and unworkable requirements of the licensing system, rather than our health and safety," Vixen Collective spokesperson Dylan O’Hara said.
Scarlet Alliance CEO Jules Kim added: "The evidence and support for decriminalisation is unequivocal and it is great that the Victorian Government has heard the voices of sex workers in moving forward these much-needed reforms".
Reason Party MP Fiona Patten, who has been pursuing reform for years and led a government inquiry into the industry in 2019, said in a statement it was a "red-letter day for the red light industry".
"These changes will allow (sex workers) to make a true profession out of their work - to pay tax, demand better conditions and be more open with their friends and family about what they do," she said in a statement.
With AAP.
