Version incorporating amendments as at
1 December 2025
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
Part 1—Preliminary 1
1 Purposes 1
2 Commencement 2
Part 2—General 3
3 Local laws not to be inconsistent with or undermine purposes of this Act 3
4 Review of amendments made by this Act 3
Part 6—Stage 2—Repeal of Sex Work Act 1994 5
37 Sex Work Act 1994 repealed 5
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Endnotes 6
1 General information 6
2 Table of Amendments 8
3 Explanatory details 9
Version No.007
Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022
No. 7 of 2022
Version incorporating amendments as at
1 December 2025
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Purposes
The main purposes of this Act are—
(a) to decriminalise sex work and provide for the reduction of discrimination against, and harm to, sex workers; and
(b) to initially repeal certain offences in the Sex Work Act 1994; and
(c) to repeal the Sex Work Act 1994; and
(d) to re-enact certain offences relating to sex work involving children and coercion in the Crimes Act 1958; and
(e) to re-enact certain offences relating to sex work in the Summary Offences Act 1966; and
(f) to amend the Summary Offences Act 1966 to provide for the regulation of the advertising of sex work; and
(g) to amend the Equal Opportunity Act 2010—
(i) to introduce a new protected attribute to protect persons from discrimination on the basis of their profession, trade or occupation; and
(ii) to repeal an exception permitting accommodation to be refused to persons engaging in commercial sexual services; and
(h) to make consequential amendments to other Acts.
2 Commencement
(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
(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.
(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.
Part 2—General
3 Local laws not to be inconsistent with or undermine purposes of this Act
(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.
(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.
4 Review of amendments made by this Act
(1) The Minister must cause a review of the operation of the amendments made by this Act to be undertaken.
(2) The review must commence at least 3 years after the commencement day and no later than 5 years after the commencement day.
(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.
(4) The person appointed by the Minister to conduct the review must provide a written report to the Minister.
(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.
(6) In this section—
commencement day means the day on which all provisions of this Act are in operation.
Pts 3–5 (Headings and ss 5–36) repealed by No. 7/2022 s. 83.
Part 6—Stage 2—Repeal of Sex Work Act 1994
37 Sex Work Act 1994 repealed
The Sex Work Act 1994 is repealed.
S. 38 repealed by No. 7/2022 s. 38(4).
Pt 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.
Pt 8 (Heading and s. 83) repealed by No. 7/2022 s. 83.
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Endnotes
1 General information
See www.legislation.vic.gov.au for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.
Minister's second reading speech—
Legislative Assembly: 13 October 2021
Legislative Council: 28 October 2021
The 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."
The Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022 was assented to on 1 March 2022 and came into operation as follows:
Sections 1–3, 5–36 on 10 May 2022: section 2(2); sections 4, 37–83 on 1 December 2023: section 2(3).
INTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)
Style changes
Section 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.
References to ILA s. 39B
Sidenotes 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.
Interpretation
As from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:
• Headings
All 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).
• Examples, diagrams or notes
All 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).
• Punctuation
All 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).
• Provision numbers
All 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).
• Location of "legislative items"
A "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.
• Other material
Any explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of an Act.
See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).
2 Table of Amendments
This publication incorporates amendments made to the Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022 by Acts and subordinate instruments.