SEX WORK LAWS IN AUSTRALIA

South Australia Laws

last updated 07/11/2022

How to use this resource

This resource contains information for sex workers on the laws about sex work in South Australia. This information is not intended to be legal advice. It is provided as a guide on sex work laws to help you navigate working in South Australia.

Sex work laws can be confusing and difficult to comply with and can compromise our safety. They are different in each state and territory, so sex work activities that are legal in one state may not be legal in another. 

Most sex work laws in Australia are about work that involves in-person contact and direct sexual services, so this resource is focused on those kinds of sex work. Resources on other types of sex work, including stripping, porn and online work, are forthcoming. 

If you’ve been charged or received a fine or official notice while doing sex work, or have further questions about the laws, contact SIN for advice and support.

South Australia’s sex worker peer organisation
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South Australia’s peer-only sex worker organisation is SIN. SIN is located in Mile End and also provides outreach services to other locations, with dedicated projects for women, street-based, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), male, and trans and gender diverse sex workers. Contact SIN to access support, advocacy, education and information, safety strategies, resources, safer sex supplies, safer injecting equipment (both onsite and mobile), and referrals to sex work-friendly professionals. 

Framework - criminalisation
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South Australia has taken a punitive approach to sex work and sex workers since colonisation. Sex work was first criminalised under ‘vagrancy’ laws and then by criminal legislation such as the Summary Offences Act 1953 and the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935, which are still in force today. 

From the late 1970s onwards, there have been many attempts to decriminalise sex work in South Australia, none of which have been successful to date. This has resulted in confusing laws which are inconsistently enforced, creating a climate of fear for sex workers and making it difficult for us to work safely. South Australian laws are the most punitive in Australia, defying current trends toward decriminalisation and failing to acknowledge the health, safety, and human rights risks posed by criminalising some or all aspects of sex work. 

Applicable legislation
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General information and laws about sex work

The act of providing sexual services in exchange for money is not specifically illegal in South Australia, but many actions associated with the normal operation of sex work are illegal.

What is considered sex work?
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Sex work or ‘commercial sexual services’ are defined in the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 as ‘services provided for payment involving the use or display of the body of the person who provides the services for the sexual gratification of another or others.’ 

The Act also defines the term ‘common prostitute’ as ‘any male person who prostitutes his body for fee or reward’, but this is not mentioned again after the definition. The Summary Offences Act 1953 uses this same definition but for the term ‘prostitute’, with no further information.

While the terminology around gender in the laws reflects the time in which they were drafted, people of all genders can be currently charged with ‘prostitution’ offences in South Australia.

General sex work offences
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Offence Definition

Living ‘wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution of another person’ (Summary Offences Act 1953)

Maximum penalty
$2,500 fine or 6 months imprisonment

If a person lives with or is ‘habitually in the company’ of a sex worker (e.g. partners or children) and that person has no visible source of income, that person is deemed to be committing an offence unless they can prove otherwise.

Being the occupier of a premises ‘frequented by prostitutes’ (Summary Offences Act 1953)

Maximum penalty
$750 fine

There are no records of this offence being used in recent times, but this does not prevent it from being used in the future. It likely was applied to people managing premises such as hostels or boarding houses accused of ‘turning a blind eye’ to sex work occurring on the premises. 

Being found in a place ‘frequented by prostitutes’ without reasonable excuse (Summary Offences Act 1953)

Maximum penalty
$750 fine

This law is aimed at clients and non-sex worker staff in brothels (e.g. receptionists, cleaners etc.). It is rarely used in South Australia.

Advertising sex work services can also be impacted by federal advertising and internet laws, as well as the requirements of private advertising service providers.

Safer sex practices
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As sex work in South Australia operates under a heavily criminalised framework, there are no specific legal rights or responsibilities for sex workers relating to safer sex practices. 

​​Many STI and BBV are ‘notifiable infections’ in some or all states and territories. This means that diagnosed cases of these infections are confidentially reported to state or territory health departments. You can find more information on the notifiable conditions in each jurisdiction on our BBV, STI and the Law resource, or contact your local sex worker peer organisation for support if you’re concerned about any impact this might have on your work.

The Scarlet Alliance Red Book Online provides a wide range of sexual health information for sex workers by sex workers and includes information on testing, safer sex, harm reduction, and workplace health and safety.  

Types of sex work

This section describes laws, enforcement practices and penalties applying to particular types of sex work.

Brothels and parlours
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Brothels are illegal in SA. ‘Brothel’ is defined broadly as a premise or part of a premises ‘to which persons resort for the purpose of prostitution’ or are ‘occupied or used for the purpose of prostitution’ (Summary Offences Act 1953).

It’s important to note that a brothel is not defined by the number of sex workers on premises; a sole, private worker operating from a hotel/motel or from home is, by definition, working from a brothel (see Independent (Private) sex work below).

Offences for brothels 

Offence Definition

Receiving money paid in a brothel relating to prostitution (Summary Offences Act 1953)

Maximum Penalty
$2,500 fine or 6 months imprisonment

This offence is frequently enforced and applies to both sex workers and management/reception staff.

Keeping or managing a brothel, or assisting to keep or manage a brothel (Summary Offences Act 1953)

Maximum Penalty
$2,500 fine or 6 months imprisonment

This offence applies to anyone acting or behaving as having control or management of a brothel.

Hiring a person to work as a sex worker (Summary Offences Act 1953)

Maximum Penalty
$2,500 fine or 6 months imprisonment

This includes advertising job vacancies for sex workers or approaching a person to persuade them to become a sex worker.

Renting out a premises knowing it will be used as a brothel (Summary Offences Act 1953)

Maximum Penalty
$2,500 fine or 6 months imprisonment

This offence applies to landlords/building owners.

Allowing a premises to be used as a brothel (Summary Offences Act 1953)

Maximum Penalty
$2,500 fine or 6 months imprisonment

This offence applies to landlords/building owners.

‘Keeping a common bawdy house or a common ill-governed and disorderly house’ (Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935)

Maximum Penalty
2 years imprisonment

This is a historic offence that has not been used in recent years but would likely apply to brothel owners, operators, or to independent/private sex workers reported by neighbours for ‘suspicious activity.’ 

 

Police powers to enter sex work businesses

Police officers have broad rights to ‘at any time enter and search premises…[suspected] on reasonable grounds to be a brothel.’ (Summary Offences Act 1953

Senior Constables in the SA Police (SAPOL) have a general, overarching search warrant that is signed by the SA Police Commissioner. This warrant gives officers the authority and ability to enter any premises they ‘reasonably suspect’ to be a sex work establishment. 

The definition of ‘reasonable’ is broad and difficult to interpret. SAPOL officers have: 

  • entered premises based upon complaints from the public (often through Crimestoppers) 
  • photographed and taken video of clients and sex workers entering and exiting premises 
  • interrogated clients off-site
  • used other criminal offences (drug use and possession of stolen property) as ‘reasonable’ grounds to enter and search sex work establishments 

Enforcement of these laws varies greatly, so while some authorities may sometimes tolerate the existence of brothels, those working in them are always under threat of enforcement. 

SAPOL commonly ‘entrap’ sex workers as a way of policing sex work. In this tactic, a SAPOL officer will pretend to be a client and make a fake appointment with a sex worker over the phone. When the officer arrives at the location where the booking is to take place, they will attempt to engage the sex worker in an incriminating discussion about sexual service delivery and will also often attempt to pay the sex worker. Then they will contact other SAPOL officers (often waiting outside) who enter the premises, and the sex worker is detained, questioned, and may be charged. While SIN and other independent legal experts believe this falls outside of the SA laws about undercover policing, it still happens regularly.

If you have been charged or received a fine or notice while working for a brothel, massage premises, or escort agency in SA, or want information about working safely, contact SIN.

Erotic massage
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A 1996 court appeal ruled that a nude Thai massage (another term for a body-to-body massage or body slide) was intended to provide lewd or sexual gratification, and the premises where it took place was, therefore, a ‘brothel’ (Begley v SA Police [1995] SASC 4995). Over the years, erotic massage workers and business operators have regularly been targeted by police and charged with a range of sex work offences.

Escort agencies
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In 1972, a court ruled that escort agencies were included in the definition of ‘brothels’ and were criminalised in South Australia. However, in that case, clients went to the premises to meet workers before leaving to conduct the service elsewhere. A premise that only receives enquiries from clients and arranges for an escort to meet them elsewhere (such as an outcall to a hotel) may not count as a brothel, although ‘procurement’ and ‘living off the earnings’ offences may still apply. 

Most escort agencies in South Australia operate on the basis that they only arrange for an escort to provide ‘company’ to clients, with any negotiation for sexual services being a private arrangement between worker and client.

Independent/private sex workers - incall and outcall
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Private sex workers who work from a specific place may be deemed to be keeping a ‘brothel’ (see offences for sex work establishments above), even if that place is their own home or privately rented premises. A client’s home, hotel room, or other private premises may also be considered to be a ‘brothel.’ In recent years, police have conducted surveillance and raids on individual private sex workers in their own homes. For the latest information about enforcement practices, contact SIN.

Pretending to be a client and making a fake appointment is a common tactic used by SAPOL to ‘entrap’ sex workers. While this falls foul of the SA laws about undercover policing, it still happens regularly. After making a booking (usually over the phone) and upon meeting the sex worker for said booking, SAPOL officers will attempt to engage the sex worker in an incriminating discussion about sexual service delivery. Then they will contact other SAPOL officers (often waiting outside), and the sex worker will be detained, questioned, and possibly charged. Please note – this tactic is also used in all forms of sex work establishments. 

SAPOL commonly ‘entrap’ sex workers as a way of policing sex work. In this tactic, a SAPOL officer will pretend to be a client and make a fake appointment with a sex worker over the phone. When the officer arrives at the location where the booking is to take place, they will attempt to engage the sex worker in an incriminating discussion about sexual service delivery and will also often attempt to pay the sex worker. Then they will contact other SAPOL officers (often waiting outside) who enter the premises, and the sex worker is detained, questioned, and may be charged. While SIN and other independent legal experts believe this falls outside of the SA laws about undercover policing, it still happens regularly.

If you have been charged or received a fine or notice while doing private/independent sex work in SA, or want information about working safely, contact SIN.

Street-based sex work
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Street-based sex work is illegal in South Australia. It is illegal to: 

  • ‘accost’ or ‘solicit’ a person for the purpose of prostitution in a public place or within the view or hearing of any person in a public place (maximum penalty $750 fine – Summary Offences Act 1953)
  • loiter in a public place for the purpose of prostitution (maximum penalty $750 fine – Summary Offences Act 1953)

If you have been charged or received a fine or notice while doing street-based sex work in SA, or want information about doing street-based work safely, contact SIN.