New South Wales Laws

New South Wales’ peer-only sex worker organisation is Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP) NSW. SWOP NSW has an office on Gadigal land in Sydney, and provides support, peer education, outreach, counselling, referrals, safer sex supplies, and other services to sex workers in NSW, including rural and regional NSW. 

New South Wales was the first place in the world to decriminalise many aspects of sex work. From the 1950s onwards, street-based sex work was a visible part of Sydney’s vibrant nightlife, most famously in Kings Cross and Darlinghurst. This visibility generated much ‘debate’ in popular, media and political spheres, leading to the passage of the Prostitution Act 1979, which repealed most criminal offences relating to street-based sex work. 

The HIV/AIDS pandemic was a significant catalyst for sex worker organising in Sydney. Sex workers publicly advocated for safer sex practices in the sex industry, with condom use in brothel services reportedly growing from less than 11 percent in 1985 to more than 90 percent by 1989.

Brothels remained illegal throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, with the Restricted Premises Act 1943 allowing brothels to be shut down by police. This criminalisation led to corrupt police officers targeting brothels and brothel workers, especially in the Kings Cross area, with a later Royal Commission finding “a clear nexus between police corruption and the operation of brothels” (see page 13). 

The Disorderly Houses Amendment Act 1995 amended the Restricted Premises Act 1943 and Crimes Act 1900 to decriminalise brothels, and move their regulation from police to local councils. While there are still a number of limitations and penalties associated with sex work (discussed further below) – this framework of decriminalisation continues to operate today.

The model of decriminalisation adopted in NSW removes most references to sex work from criminal legislation, and regulates sex work through planning laws and regulations and public health law. However, it is not full decriminalisation.

Here’s a summary of what decriminalisation looks like in NSW:

• It is legal for a person who is over 18 to provide sexual services to a person who is over the age of consent (16), although 18 is the minimum age to enter a sex services premises. 
• Sex workers are subject to the same public health laws and work health and safety laws as all people in NSW. 

There are still laws and restrictions that sex workers need to be aware of. 

• Street based sex work is restricted to certain areas
• There are laws restricting work in establishment work (e.g. sex services premises and escort agencies) and sex work advertising, but these are rarely enforced.  
• There are restrictions on advertising for sex work and sex services premises.
• Living off the earnings of someone else’s sex work is illegal (but rarely enforced).
• Both sex services businesses and independent (private) sex workers may face restrictions and/or discrimination from local councils, landlords and building management structures. Sex workers can be prohibited from working in certain local government areas through planning law. This issue impacts many sex workers and has resulted in ongoing stigma against sex workers, undermining the intention of decriminalisation. For further information about doing sex work in your area, contact SWOP NSW.

The following legislation regulates sex work in NSW: 

• Summary Offences Act 1988

• Crimes Act 1900 

• Public Health Act 2010

• Restricted Premises Act 1943

• Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979

• Local Environmental Planning (LEP) Instruments (council-specific)

In NSW, sex work or “prostitution” is defined as activities between “persons of different sexes or of the same sex and includes: sexual intercourse [including oral sex]…and masturbation committed by one person on another” (Summary Offences Act 1988).

It is illegal for any person to:

In NSW, sex workers and clients have the same rights and responsibilities as all other adults to assess health risks and care for their own health and the health of others. This means that NSW sex workers can choose when they receive sexual health testing, and what PPE they use at work. 

All adults in NSW (including sex workers and clients) with a notifiable disease or a scheduled medical condition that can be sexually transmitted must take reasonable precautions to prevent transmitting it to others (maximum penalty 100 penalty units and 6 months imprisonment – Public Health Act 2010). This means that sex workers living with a sexually transmissable infection (STI) or blood borne virus (BBV) can do sex work if they take reasonable precautions to prevent transmission. 

NSW Health considers reasonable precautions to be: 

• taking a prescribed antibiotic course for bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs), or
• using a condom to prevent transmission of STIs / blood borne viruses (BBVs), or
• In cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), having an HIV viral load of less than 200 copies/mL, usually resulting from being on effective treatment, or
• In cases of HIV, seeking and receiving confirmation from a sexual partner that they are taking HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), or
• In cases of hepatitis B, seeking and receiving confirmation from a sexual partner than they are immune to hepatitis B (e.g. vaccinated or previously infected).

Owner/operators of sex work businesses also have a responsibility to not knowingly allow a person with an STI (whether worker or client) to engage in a booking without taking reasonable precautions (maximum penalty 100 penalty units and 6 months imprisonment – Public Health Act 2010). You are not required to disclose STI status to sex services premises owners or managers. 

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

There are offences in NSW relating to advertising for sex work and advertising job vacancies for sex workers. However, there is no record of these being enforced in recent years. This also means that some advertising providers (particularly newspapers and print media) may place restrictions on the wording or format they will accept for sex work advertising, or refuse to publish sex work advertising altogether.

If you are charged or have any contact with police or a local council in relation to advertising, contact SWOP NSW for support and advocacy. 

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

It is legal to own, manage and do sex work in a ‘sex services premises’ in NSW. 

A sex services premises can be any of the following:

• a place where sex work habitually occurs
• a place that has been used for sex work, and is likely to be used for sex work in the future
• a place that has been represented or advertised as being used for sex work, and is likely to be used for sex work (Restricted Premises Act 1943).

This is a broad definition, and applies to many kinds of places where sex work may occur, including small groups of workers working together from the same place, or individual sex workers working from their homes or rented premises (see Independent (private) sex work below).

Sex services premises are subject to the following restrictions:

• Sex services premises cannot be licensed to sell alcohol, and sex work cannot take place in licensed premises (but complimentary alcohol may be served) (Liquor Act 1982)
• Sex services premises must comply with workplace health and safety legislation 
• Sex services premises must be permitted under the relevant Local Environmental Plan (LEP) for their area. 

There is also a criminal offence prohibiting owning or operating a sex work business that advertises itself as being a different kind of business (e.g. a sauna or gym) or from doing sex work in this kind of business. However, there is no record of this being enforced in recent years. If you are charged or have any contact with police or a local council in relation to your work premises, contact SWOP NSW for support and advocacy.      

Sex services premises and local councils

One of the main ways sex work is restricted in NSW is through laws made by local councils. Local councils are responsible for making a type of law called a local environmental plan (LEP), which controls what activities different buildings or blocks of land can be used for. If a person wants to use a building or land for a specific purpose, or to change that purpose, they must apply to their local council for ‘development application’ (DA) approval.

Some LEPs have straightforward requirements for sex services premises similar to the requirements for any other business, like a shop or a cafe. Other LEPs restrict sex services premises to industrial areas or impose requirements on sex industry business owners that are difficult to comply with. As a result, it is difficult to estimate how many businesses comply with LEPs.

If a local council becomes aware of a sex services premises that is ‘non-compliant’ with an LEP, they may investigate to show that the premises is being used for sex work and to shut it down. This may involve:

• Notifying the tenant/business owner that council officers will search the premises 
• Council workers and/or police searching the premises with a search warrant
• In some local council areas, councils may hire private investigators to pretend to be clients in order to investigate non-compliant businesses. 

Use of private investigators and resident complaints 

The use of private investigators posing as a sex worker’s client, to ‘uncover’ if sex work is taking place on the premises is problematic for sex workers. The investigation may involve a worker providing a service to someone they would not provide the service to if they knew that they were a private investigator. This is unfair practice and is considered by sex workers and advocates to be a form of sexual assault. If you know or suspect that a client, neighbour or other person has reported you or your workplace to a local council, contact SWOP NSW.

Remember that even if a police officer attends with a council worker, these are not criminal investigations. If a council believes that a sex services premises is operating outside the rules, they can apply to the Land and Environment Court of NSW for a “brothel closure order.” This means that the premises can be shut down, and the business owner may face a fine. However, there is no penalty for being a worker in a non-compliant brothel, provided you are not the owner or operator.

Local councils may also act on complaints from surrounding residents and businesses and obtain a court order to close brothels under the Restricted Premises Act 1943, even in the case of compliant businesses. 

Erotic massage premises will likely be considered to be “brothels” or “sex services premises” if bodyslides, hand relief or oral sex occur on the premises. It does not matter whether all workers at an establishment provide these services. For further information, see the information on ‘sex services premises’ above. 

It is legal to own, manage and do sex work for an escort agency in NSW. An escort agency is a premises that is used to arrange contacts between sex workers and clients, with the intention of bookings taking place at a place other than the escort agency premises. 

Escort agencies must comply with local council and planning regulations in the same way as other businesses. It is not an offence for sex workers to be based at the agency premises, or to visit the agency premises to get work.

BDSM venues are considered to be ‘brothels’ in NSW, even if not all workers provide mainstream ‘sexual’ services (e.g. full service). 

If services offered at the premises include skin penetration (deliberate penetration or removal of the skin), for example piercing, suturing, or otherwise intentionally breaking skin, the business requires a further element of registration with local council. This applies to both BDSM establishments and independent BDSM operators (see Independent (private) sex work below).

Each council has a different procedure and you can find the relevant registration form through searching ‘skin penetration premises notification and (name of your local council)’. Registration often comes with an application and inspection fee. You must also follow specific procedures to prevent transmission of any infections or diseases. For further information on this see the NSW Health Guidelines on the skin penetration industry and/or contact SWOP NSW. 

Independent/private sex work is legal in NSW. 

There are no limitations on working with other sex workers (such as doing doubles) or hiring subcontractors to help with your work (such as a driver or receptionist). 

Independent sex workers may provide both outcalls (visiting a client at their home or hotel) and incalls (hosting a client at their home or other rented premises). 

Independent (private) sex work and local councils 

Any incall arrangement (even if the premises is your own home or privately rented premises) is considered to be a brothel under NSW law, and subject to the relevant LEP for the area (see Establishments – brothels above). 

What this means in practice depends on where you live and your local council. Some councils permit home-based sex work businesses without having to lodge a development application (DA), some require a DA, and others exclude sex work from other types of home-based businesses and prohibit sex work in residential areas altogether. This information can be obtained from local councils, but workers should be aware that enquiries to local councils are not confidential. If you need information but are concerned about your privacy, SWOP NSW can assist you to make an inquiry.

Many NSW independent sex workers work from incalls with no issues, but it can be helpful to understand the way your local council approaches this. Contact SWOP NSW for support with this. 

If your local council believes an independent (private) sex worker is operating outside of the rules, they can:

• Notify the tenant that council officers will search the premises 
• Apply for a search warrant to allow council workers and/or police to search the premises 
• In some local council areas, councils may hire private investigators to pretend to be clients in order to investigate non-compliant sex workers. The use of private investigators to ‘uncover’ sex work is problematic for sex workers. The investigation may involve a worker providing a service to someone they would not provide the service to if they knew that they were a private investigator. This is unfair practice and is considered by sex workers and advocates to be a form of sexual assault. If you know or suspect that a client has reported you or your incall premises to a local council, contact SWOP NSW.

If you are investigated, don’t panic, and remember that:

• • If you come to the attention of a landlord, property manager, or building custodian (body corporate or strata), you may be told to stop doing sex work from the location. If you choose not to comply, you may face eviction proceedings or in rare circumstances be taken to the land and environment court. However, doing non-compliant incall sex work in NSW will never result in a criminal charge.
  • While single-worker ‘brothels’ can be closed for non-compliance with LEPs, they must be done so by council order, not by “brothel closure order,” which is typically a slower and less-used process (see Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979). 
• Single-worker ‘brothels’ can be closed by court order under the Restricted Premises Act 1943 if the local council receives complaints from surrounding residents and businesses, even if the premises is permitted under the LEP.  A number of complaints must be received before this type of order is granted. 

Even if a police officer attends your premises with a council worker, these investigations are about operating within local council rules, and are not criminal investigations. It is possible that you may face a fine or eviction, but you cannot be arrested or charged. 

For further information on how to navigate local government requirements for sex workers, of if you’re concerned that you have raised the attention of your local council, building manager or landlord, contact SWOP NSW.

Street based sex work is legal in NSW in specific areas. 

Places where it’s illegal to meet clients

The following are the ‘soliciting’ offences in New South Wales. It is illegal to:

It is also illegal for clients to approach sex workers to seek sexual services in the above circumstances (Summary Offences Act 1988).

Places where you can’t conduct bookings

The following are the ‘public acts of prostitution’ offences in New South Wales. 

It is illegal for both sex workers and clients to:

• Conduct a booking in, or within view from, a school, church, hospital or public place, or within view from a dwelling (maximum penalty 10 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment – Summary Offences Act 1988)
• Conduct a booking in a vehicle in, or within view from, a school, church, hospital or public place, or within view from a dwelling, even if you can’t be seen from outside the vehicle (maximum penalty 10 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment – Summary Offences Act 1988).

For the purposes of this section, conducting a booking is labelled as a ‘public act of prostitution’ which includes sexual intercourse (penetrative sex), oral sex, use of toys, body slides and hand relief.

For further information about street based sex work, or if you have been charged with an offence, contact SWOP NSW.