{"id":"sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022","name":"Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022","slug":"sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"vic","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":173587,"registerId":"vic-sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022","content":"Version No. 007\n\n**Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022**\n\n**No. 7 of 2022**\n\nVersion incorporating amendments as at  \n1 December 2025\n\n**TABLE OF PROVISIONS**\n\n*Section Page*\n\nPart 1—Preliminary 1\n\n1 Purposes 1\n\n2 Commencement 2\n\nPart 2—General 3\n\n3 Local laws not to be inconsistent with or undermine purposes of this Act 3\n\n4 Review of amendments made by this Act 3\n\nPart 6—Stage 2—Repeal of Sex Work Act 1994 5\n\n37 Sex Work Act 1994 repealed 5\n\n═════════════\n\nEndnotes 6\n\n1 General information 6\n\n2 Table of Amendments 8\n\n3 Explanatory details 9\n\n**Version No.** **007**\n\n**Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022**\n\n**No. 7 of 2022**\n\nVersion incorporating amendments as at  \n1 December 2025\n\n**The Parliament of Victoria enacts:**\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n\t1 Purposes\n\nThe main purposes of this Act are—\n\n(a) to decriminalise sex work and provide for the reduction of discrimination against, and harm to, sex workers; and\n\n(b) to initially repeal certain offences in the **Sex Work Act 1994**; and\n\n(c) to repeal the **Sex Work Act 1994**; and\n\n(d) to re-enact certain offences relating to sex work involving children and coercion in the **Crimes Act 1958**; and\n\n(e) to re-enact certain offences relating to sex work in the **Summary Offences Act 1966**; and\n\n(f) to amend the **Summary Offences Act 1966** to provide for the regulation of the advertising of sex work; and\n\n(g) to amend the **Equal Opportunity Act 2010**—\n\n(i) to introduce a new protected attribute to protect persons from discrimination on the basis of their profession, trade or occupation; and\n\n(ii) to repeal an exception permitting accommodation to be refused to persons engaging in commercial sexual services; and\n\n(h) to make consequential amendments to other Acts.\n\n\t2 Commencement\n\n(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.\n\n(2) If a provision of Part 1, 3, 4 or 5 or section 3 does not come into operation before 10 May 2022, it comes into operation on that day.\n\n(3) If a provision of this Act not referred to in subsection (2) does not come into operation before 1 December 2023, it comes into operation on that day.\n\nPart 2—General\n\n\t3 Local laws not to be inconsistent with or undermine purposes of this Act\n\n(1) A local law made under the **Local Government Act 2020** must not be inconsistent with the purposes of this Act or undermine the purposes of this Act to decriminalise sex work and provide for the reduction of discrimination against, and harm to, sex workers.\n\n(2) This section is in addition to, and does not derogate from, the local law requirements in section 72 of the **Local Government Act 2020**.\n\n\t4 Review of amendments made by this Act\n\n(1) The Minister must cause a review of the operation of the amendments made by this Act to be undertaken.\n\n(2) The review must commence at least 3 years after the commencement day and no later than 5 years after the commencement day.\n\n(3) The review must review the operation of the amendments made by this Act in accordance with the terms of reference determined by the Minister, including the effect of the repeal of the **Sex Work Act 1994** and related amendments to other Acts.\n\n(4) The person appointed by the Minister to conduct the review must provide a written report to the Minister.\n\n(5) The Minister must cause a copy of the review to be tabled before each House of the Parliament as soon as practicable after the review is completed.\n\n(6) In this section—\n\n***commencement day*** means the day on which all provisions of this Act are in operation.\n\nPts 3–5 (Headings and ss 5–36) repealed by No. 7/2022 s. 83.\n\n* * * * *\n\nPart 6—Stage 2—Repeal of Sex Work Act 1994\n\n\t37 Sex Work Act 1994 repealed\n\nThe **Sex Work Act 1994** is **repealed**.\n\nS. 38 repealed by No. 7/2022 s. 38(4).\n\n* * * * *\n\nPt 7 (Headings and ss 39–82) amended by Nos 38/2022 ss 19, 59, 44/2022 s. 91, repealed by No. 7/2022 s. 83.\n\n* * * * *\n\nPt 8 (Heading and s. 83) repealed by No. 7/2022 s. 83.\n\n* * * * *\n\n═════════════\n\nEndnotes\n\n1 General information\n\nSee [www.legislation.vic.gov.au](http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au) for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.\n\n*Minister's second reading speech—*\n\n*Legislative Assembly: 13 October 2021*\n\n*Legislative Council: 28 October 2021*\n\nThe long title for the Bill for this Act was \"A Bill for an Act to decriminalise sex work, to repeal the **Sex Work Act 1994**, to provide for a new protected attribute in the **Equal Opportunity Act 2010**, to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts and for other purposes.\"\n\nThe **Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022** was assented to on 1 March 2022 and came into operation as follows:\n\nSections 1–3, 5–36 on 10 May 2022: section 2(2); sections 4, 37–83 on 1 December 2023: section 2(3).\n\nINTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)\n\nStyle changes\n\nSection 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.\n\nReferences to ILA s. 39B\n\nSidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided section or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subsections or subclauses, the original section or clause becomes subsection or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression \"(1)\" at the beginning of the original section or clause.\n\nInterpretation\n\nAs from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:\n\n• Headings\n\nAll headings included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Act. Any heading inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Act. This includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; sections; clauses; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms. See section 36(1A)(2A).\n\n• Examples, diagrams or notes\n\nAll examples, diagrams or notes included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Act. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Act. See section 36(3A).\n\n• Punctuation\n\nAll punctuation included in an Act which is passed on or after 1 January 2001 forms part of that Act. Any punctuation inserted in an Act which was passed before 1 January 2001, by an Act passed on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Act. See section 36(3B).\n\n• Provision numbers\n\nAll provision numbers included in an Act form part of that Act, whether inserted in the Act before, on or after 1 January 2001. Provision numbers include section numbers, subsection numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).\n\n• Location of \"legislative items\"\n\nA \"legislative item\" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of an Act is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.\n\n• Other material\n\nAny explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of an Act.  \nSee section 36(3)(3D)(3E).\n\n2 Table of Amendments\n\nThis publication incorporates amendments made to the **Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022** by Acts and subordinate instruments.\n\n–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––\n\n**Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022, No. 7/2022**\n\n| Assent Date: | 1.3.22 |\n| --- | --- |\n| Commencement Date: | Ss 38(4), 83 on 1.12.23: s. 2(3) |\n| Note: | S. 83 repealed Pts 3–5 (ss 5–36), 7, 8 (ss 39–83) on 1.12.24; s. 38(4) repealed s. 38 on 1.12.25 |\n| Current State: | This information relates only to the provision/s amending the **Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022** |\n\n\n**Justice Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences and Other Matters) Act 2022, No. 38/2022**\n\n| Assent Date: | 6.9.22 |\n| --- | --- |\n| Commencement Date: | S. 59 on 1.1.23: s. 2(6); s. 19 on 30.7.23: s. 2(5) |\n| Current State: | This information relates only to the provision/s amending the **Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022** |\n\n\n**Major Crime and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Act 2022, No. 44/2022**\n\n| Assent Date: | 27.9.22 |\n| --- | --- |\n| Commencement Date: | S. 91 on 28.9.22: s. 2(1) |\n| Current State: | This information relates only to the provision/s amending the **Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022** |\n\n\n–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––\n\n3 Explanatory details\n\nNo entries at date of publication.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation has not expanded beyond its original purpose. In fact, it has contracted significantly—Parts 3-5, 7 and 8 contained detailed transitional provisions, staged implementation mechanisms, and transitional regulations that were always intended to be temporary. These self-repealed once Stage 2 (the repeal of the Sex Work Act 1994) took effect on 1 December 2023. The current version represents the intended end-state: a skeletal Act that accomplished its mission by amending other statutes and now contains only its purposes, a review mechanism, and the spent repeal provision."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short operative text—only 4 substantive sections remain in force (ss 1-4, 37)","Heavy use of self-destructing provisions—Parts 3-5, 7 and 8 were repealed by the Act itself (s. 83) once their transitional work was done","Minimal defined terms—only one defined term in the entire Act ('commencement day' in s. 4(6))","No nested conditional logic or complex cross-referencing within the surviving provisions","Complexity is externalised—the Act achieves its purpose by amending other Acts (Crimes Act 1958, Summary Offences Act 1966, Equal Opportunity Act 2010) rather than creating detailed regulatory schemes itself","Staged commencement dates already spent—s. 2 provided for automatic commencement if not proclaimed, but these dates have now passed"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis is Victorian legislation that removes sex work from the criminal justice system and treats it as legitimate work. It repeals (abolishes) the old **Sex Work Act 1994**, which regulated sex work through a licensing and criminalisation framework, and moves relevant offences into mainstream criminal law.\n\n**Key changes:**\n\n*   **Decriminalisation:** Sex work between consenting adults is no longer a crime. The old licensing system is gone.\n*   **Protection for workers:** The law adds \"profession, trade or occupation\" as a protected attribute in Victoria's anti-discrimination law (**Equal Opportunity Act 2010**). This means sex workers can't be refused accommodation or services simply because of their job.\n*   **Advertising rules:** New rules for how sex work services can be advertised are moved into the **Summary Offences Act 1966**.\n*   **Serious offences remain illegal:** Exploitation, coercion, and any sex work involving children are still serious crimes—these offences are re-enacted in the **Crimes Act 1958**.\n*   **Local council restrictions:** Councils can't make local laws that undermine the purpose of decriminalising sex work or reducing harm to sex workers.\n*   **Review built in:** The Minister must review how the changes are working between 3 and 5 years after everything takes effect.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   Sex workers (who gain legal protections and reduced stigma)\n*   Clients (who are no longer committing an offence by engaging in consensual adult sex work)\n*   Local councils (who can't use planning or local laws to effectively re-criminalise sex work)\n*   Accommodation providers and businesses (who can no longer legally discriminate against sex workers)\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis shifts Victoria from a \"regulation and control\" model to a \"labour rights and human rights\" approach. It recognises sex work as work, reduces police interference in consensual adult activity, and aims to improve safety and reduce stigma for sex workers by bringing them under standard workplace and anti-discrimination protections."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act’s current text implements the Bill’s original purpose as stated in its long title: to decriminalise sex work, repeal the Sex Work Act 1994, re‑enact criminal offences for coercion and child exploitation in other criminal statutes, regulate advertising, and add occupation as a protected attribute in the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (see s.1 and the long title in the endnotes). Later amendments and staged repeals reorganise how the policy is effected (for example, moving offences into other Acts and sequencing commencements), but they do not materially broaden the Act’s stated scope beyond those original purposes. One notable structural effect is that the new protected attribute for 'profession, trade or occupation' is framed broadly (s.1(g)(i)), which extends anti‑discrimination protection beyond a single occupation; that breadth was part of the instrument’s purpose as published and therefore does not represent a post‑enactment scope change."},"complexity_factors":["Short principal Act text but heavy reliance on consequential amendments to multiple other Acts (Crimes Act 1958, Summary Offences Act 1966, Equal Opportunity Act 2010)","Staged commencements with multiple operative dates (s.2; endnotes)","Ministerial discretion over review terms of reference and appointment (s.4(2)–(3))","Cross‑references and repeals of an existing, substantive statute (repeal of Sex Work Act 1994, s.37) requiring coordination across statutes","Amendments and repeals made by later Acts noted in the endnotes (Justice Legislation Amendment No. 38/2022; Major Crime and Community Safety Amendment No. 44/2022)","Limited number of in‑Act defined terms (only explicit defined term in the provided text: 'commencement day' in s.4(6)), meaning interpretation depends on external statutory texts"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Act does (mechanics first)**\n\n- Repeals the Sex Work Act 1994 (removes the statute that previously regulated sex work) (s.37).\n- Moves certain criminal offences connected with sex work into other criminal statutes: offences involving children and coercion are re‑enacted in the Crimes Act 1958; some other offences are re‑enacted in the Summary Offences Act 1966 (s.1(d)–(e)).\n- Creates a power to regulate the advertising of sex work by amending the Summary Offences Act 1966 (s.1(f)).\n- Amends the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 to add a new protected attribute for profession, trade or occupation (which covers people who do sex work) and removes an exception that allowed accommodation to be refused to people providing commercial sexual services (s.1(g)).\n- Restricts local councils from making local laws that are inconsistent with, or that undermine, the Act’s purposes to decriminalise sex work and reduce discrimination and harm to sex workers (s.3).\n- Requires the Minister to commission a formal review of how the amendments operate, to start between 3 and 5 years after the day the whole Act is in force; the reviewer reports to the Minister and the review must be tabled in Parliament (s.4).\n\n(These are the Act’s principal operative changes. The text also stages commencement dates and records consequential amendments made to other Acts; see ss.2, 4(6) and the endnotes.)\n\n**Who this affects**\n\n- Sex workers and people who manage or work in sex‑work businesses: the statutory framework that previously governed licensing, offences or regulation under the Sex Work Act 1994 is removed and replaced by a mix of non‑criminal regulation (including advertising rules) and criminal provisions retained elsewhere for coercion and child exploitation (s.37; s.1(d)–(f)).\n- Local councils: they are explicitly barred from making local laws that conflict with or undermine the Act’s purposes (s.3).\n- Landlords and accommodation providers: the specific exception that permitted rejecting people on the basis they provide commercial sexual services is repealed, bringing those refusals within the scope of the Equal Opportunity Act’s protections (s.1(g)(ii)).\n- Advertisers, media and online platforms that publish advertising for sexual services: they will be subject to the advertising regulation introduced by amendments to the Summary Offences Act 1966 (s.1(f)).\n- Police, prosecutors and courts: responsibility for enforcing criminal offences that remain (for example, coercion, child‑related offences) rests with criminal justice authorities under the re‑enacted provisions in other Acts (s.1(d)–(e)).\n- The Minister and public agencies: the Minister sets terms of reference and commissions the statutory review (s.4).\n\n**Why it matters (official purpose and test against trade‑offs and implementation mechanics)**\n\n- Officially, the Act’s stated purposes are to decriminalise sex work and reduce discrimination and harm to sex workers (s.1(a)). The Act achieves this mechanically by repealing the Sex Work Act 1994 (s.37) and changing anti‑discrimination law so occupation (including sex work) is a protected attribute (s.1(g)(i)).\n\n- The Act preserves criminal penalties where the conduct engages core criminal harms: child sexual exploitation and coercion are re‑enacted in the Crimes Act 1958, and some public‑order or related offences are placed in the Summary Offences Act 1966 (s.1(d)–(e)). Mechanism: removal of industry‑specific criminal offences while keeping criminal law against exploitation and abuse.\n\n- Regulatory and market effects to watch (mechanisms, not judgments):\n  - Private businesses and independent operators face a change in the regulatory baseline: removal of the Sex Work Act’s regime will reduce whatever licence/permit obligations that Act imposed and replace them with a different mix of regulation (advertising rules) and protections (anti‑discrimination). That changes compliance costs and contract freedom for businesses (s.37; s.1(f); s.1(g)).\n  - The advertising regulation introduces direct compliance obligations on how sex‑work services can be marketed; this may change how businesses acquire customers and how platforms moderate content (s.1(f)).\n  - Adding occupation as a protected attribute in the Equal Opportunity Act gives individuals a private legal pathway to challenge discrimination (for example, employment or accommodation refusals) — increasing legal exposure for employers, landlords and service providers (s.1(g)).\n  - Local councils lose a regulatory lever where they might previously have used local laws to restrict sex‑work premises or conduct; that power is curtailed where it would be inconsistent with the Act’s purposes (s.3). That concentrates regulatory decision‑making away from local by‑laws toward state law and common law or other statute.\n\n- Costs, incentives and trade‑offs:\n  - Who pays: sex workers and sex‑work businesses will bear costs of adapting business practices to new advertising rules and any new civil compliance (anti‑discrimination obligations); landlords and accommodation providers face potential liability exposure if they refuse accommodation on the basis of occupation; state agencies and the justice system bear enforcement and review costs (s.1(f)–(g); s.4).\n  - Incentives: decriminalisation reduces the criminal‑law risk for consensual adult sex work, encouraging lawful contracting and business activity. Retained criminal offences preserve deterrence against coercion and child exploitation (s.1(a), (d)–(e)).\n  - Trade‑offs: removing an industry‑specific criminal framework hands more weight to ordinary civil and criminal law. That can lower regulatory entry costs but shifts issues of public order, nuisance, or community standards into other statutory or common‑law pathways (for example, summary offences or planning laws), and requires careful inter‑Act coordination.\n\n**Implementation, compliance and risk**\n\n- Staging and inter‑Act coordination: the Act relies heavily on consequential amendments to other Acts (Crimes Act 1958, Summary Offences Act 1966, Equal Opportunity Act 2010) and staged commencements (s.2; endnotes). That raises practical risks: until consequential provisions are in place and enforcement practices are updated, there can be uncertainty for police, prosecutors, councils and businesses.\n\n- Ministerial discretion in review design: the Minister sets the review’s terms of reference and appoints the reviewer (s.4(3)–(4)), which places a degree of policy and procedural discretion in the executive about what outcomes are examined and how.\n\n- Administrative burden: the Government and enforcement agencies must revise guidance, training and enforcement priorities (police, courts, tribunal processes for discrimination complaints). Businesses and platforms must update advertising policies and contract terms.\n\n**Concrete legal hooks to check when applying the Act**\n\n- Repeal of the Sex Work Act 1994 — s.37.\n- Purposes — s.1 (lists the decriminalisation, re‑enactments, advertising regulation and Equal Opportunity changes).\n- Local law constraint — s.3.\n- Review requirement and timing — s.4.\n\n**Source‑grounded summary**\n\nThis Act mechanically removes the Sex Work Act 1994 and replaces the prior regulatory mix with (a) criminal offences retained or re‑enacted in generic criminal statutes to cover coercion and child exploitation, (b) advertising rules in the Summary Offences Act 1966, and (c) an expansion of anti‑discrimination protection under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 to include occupation. It also curtails local laws that would undermine the stated purpose of decriminalisation and mandates a formal review of the legislative changes between three and five years after full commencement (ss.1, 3, 4, 37)."},"summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the information available, the Act appears to remain consistent with its original stated purpose of decriminalising sex work in Victoria. There is no indication from the version history provided of substantive amendments that significantly altered the original scope or intent of the legislation."},"complexity_factors":["Limited legislative text was provided — the full Act contains more complex provisions around regulatory frameworks, exemptions, and transitional arrangements that could not be assessed","The Act interfaces with multiple existing laws (criminal law, occupational health and safety, local government planning) creating cross-legislative complexity","Distinction between decriminalisation and legalisation can be confusing for laypeople","Transitional provisions moving an industry from a criminal framework to a regulatory one involve nuanced legal mechanics","Potential interaction with Commonwealth law and constitutional limits adds a layer of complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act removes criminal penalties for sex work in Victoria, treating sex workers and related business operators as participants in a lawful industry rather than criminals. It affects sex workers, their clients, business owners, police practice, and the wider community by shifting enforcement from punishment to regulation. The change aims to improve safety, access to health and legal protections, and reduce stigma, while allowing for some regulatory rules to remain."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022","history":"/api/acts/sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022/history","analysis":"/api/acts/sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/sex-work-decriminalisation-act-2022/documents"}}