Western Australia sex work laws

• SWEAR is WA’s peer-only organisation. SWEAR is a grassroots organisation focused towards peer support, education, and advocacy for sex work law reform in WA.
• Magenta provides support, advocacy, safety advice, safer sex supplies, clinic appointments, and referrals to sex-work friendly professionals. You can visit Magenta’s office, or connect with them digitally or via their outreach services.

Providing sexual services in exchange for payment is legal in Western Australia, but many activities associated with sex work are criminalised (illegal). This creates ‘grey areas’ within the laws that can be confusing and difficult for sex workers to navigate. 

The most complicated aspect of WA’s laws is the difference between what the laws say and how they’re enforced. Only some sex work laws are enforced in practice, but there are still some key things that sex workers need to know about working in WA:

• Independent sex work is legal. However, local councils, building management organisations (body corporates or strata orgs), property managers and landlords may prohibit sex workers operating from private residential premises.
• Street-based sex work is illegal in WA, and is heavily policed.   
• Doing sex work in a brothel is lawful in WA. Doing sex work for an escort agency is also lawful.
• It is illegal to own/operate a brothel (e.g. work as a manager or receptionist), but this is rarely enforced. 

Enforcement patterns can change, so you might find it helpful to be familiar with the laws for the type/s of sex work you do. You can also contact Magenta or SWEAR for advice and support. Sex workers can also contact SWEAR to request a copy of The Whoreacle: A Handbook for WA Sex Workers.  

SWEAR has also created this one-page resource on WA’s sex work laws. You can click on the image to see a full-size version.

WA law uses the word ‘prostitution’ to refer to sex work. It includes any sexual stimulation in exchange for any form of payment, either through physical contact or by using ‘anything controlled by or emanating from the other’ (Prostitution Act 2000).

• It is illegal to engage in an ‘act of prostitution’ without using a ‘prophylactic appropriate for preventing the transmission of bodily fluid from one person to another.’ This could mean condoms (regular or internal), dental dams and/or gloves. The maximum penalty is a $5000 fine (Prostitution Act 2000).
• All adults in WA who are ‘at risk of contracting a notifiable infectious disease must take all reasonable precautions to avoid contracting the disease.’ (Public Health Act 2016). 
• Any person who has a ‘notifiable infectious disease must take all reasonable precautions to ensure that others are not unknowingly placed at risk of contracting the disease.’ (Public Health Act 2016).
• Any person who suspects they may have a notifiable infectious disease is required to get tested (Public Health Act 2016).
• In WA, ‘notifiable infectious’ STI/BBV are: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, donovanosis, chancroid, HIV and hepatitis A, B and C. 

Check out Red Book Online for information on STI/BBV, testing, safer sex, and harm reduction. Magenta also provides peer education and safer sex PPE through drop-in and outreach services.

The Prostitution Act 2000 also criminalises the involvement of people under the age of 18 in sex work. This includes criminalising underage workers. For further information, contact Magenta or SWEAR.

There are also historic laws relating to sex workers and their ‘associates’ being on licensed premises, but these have not been enforced since 2000. See page 32 of The Sex Industry in Western Australia report for further information.

Detention, search, and seizure

If a police officer suspects that:

• a person is engaging in a sex work-related offence
• carrying anything that could be evidence that the person is engaging in a sex work-related offence (i.e. condoms/dams or lube) –

then the police officer may, without a warrant:

• Stop, detain and search that person 
• Stop, detain and search any vehicle carrying that person, including detaining any other person in that vehicle 
• Seize any item that may be evidence that a person is engaging in a sex work-related offence (see Prostitution Act 2000).

There have been instances where police have considered carrying condoms to be ‘evidence’ of a sex work related offence (see pages 3-4.) If you are carrying condoms and have these confiscated by a police officer or used as ‘evidence’ of a sex work charge, contact Magenta.

Searches must be carried out by a person of the same sex as the person being searched. There is no legislative provision to ensure that this right is protected for trans and gender diverse (TGD) sex workers, and WAPOL’s internal policy on searches of TGD sex workers is unclear. Cavity searches are also allowed, but must be conducted by a medical professional. Police officers may use ‘reasonable force’ to make a person comply with the search. 

Street-based sex workers are specifically targeted for search and detention, as laws against street-based sex work are the most frequently enforced. (see street-based sex work below). However, police also have powers to enter and search sex industry businesses (see sex work workplaces below).

If you are concerned about contact with police in the course of doing sex work, contact Magenta or SWEAR.

Exchanging (protected) sexual services for payment in a private place is not a crime in WA. Police entrapment of sex workers inside an establishment (i.e. a police officer posing as a client and busting a worker after they’ve paid or after a booking) is illegal. If you experience police entrapment, contact SWEAR or Magenta.

Offences for sex work businesses

What WA’s sex work laws say can be very different from what happens in practice, because they are not all enforced. Contact SWEAR or Magenta for more information.

According to legislation, it is illegal for sex work businesses (including those who own, manage or operate them) to:

Brothels

There is no law prohibiting doing sex work in a sex work establishment, but owning or operating a brothel is prohibited (see table above). In practice, brothels operate openly, but brothel and club workers may be surveilled and/or scrutinised by police. Brothels may also risk evictions by a local council or landlord. 

Erotic massage premises

Erotic massage services will usually be included in the definition of ‘prostitution’. It is legal for workers to provide erotic massage services. However, premises where these services are provided are ‘brothels’ which are technically prohibited (see table above). 

Escort agencies

Under Western Australia law, ‘brothel-keeping’ offences do not apply to escort agencies. (Powell v Devereaux [Supreme Court of Western Australia, 12 June 1987, Appeal No 1053 of 1987]). However, operators of escort agencies may be liable for ‘living off the earnings’ and ‘procuring’ offences. In practice, escort agencies operate openly, and it is legal to be a worker for one.

It is legal to do private sex work in a client’s home or other private premises, e.g. a motel or hotel room (outcalls).

Private sex work by a single worker from a premises (incalls) is a legal grey area. It is legal (not criminalised) for one private sex worker to work from their own home (see page 26 of the linked article). However, local councils, landlords and building management organisations (strata or body corporate) may prohibit sex work in residential areas. This places independent/private sex workers at risk of eviction.

Street-based sex work is criminalised and policed in Western Australia.

It is illegal for a person to seek the services of a sex worker ‘in or in the view or within hearing of a public place.’ (Prostitution Act 2000).

Entrapment of street-based sex workers (i.e. a police officer posing as a client and busting a worker after they’ve paid or after a booking) is unacceptable police practice. If you experience entrapment, contact SWEAR or Magenta.

If a police officer suspects that a person (either a sex worker or client):

• has engaged in street-based sex work
• intends to engage in, street-based sex work –

the police officer may order that person in writing to move away from the area for a period of up to 24 hours.

Penalties for ignoring this order are:

• $6,000 fine for a first offence
• 1 year imprisonment for subsequent offences.

If the person ignores an order, the court may also issue a restraining order preventing a person from otherwise legal actions or from being in a particular public area. The restraining order may last for up to one year.

Street-based sex work offences are the only sex work offences regularly enforced in WA (see pages 44 and 50 of the linked report). If you have been arrested, charged or fined, or want information about street-based work in WA, contact Magenta.

• Prostitution Act 2000
• Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (the Criminal Code) (sections 190-192)
• Public Health Act 2016 (sections 88-114)
• Liquor Control Act 1988 (section 115)