Tasmania has criminalised brothels. Two sex workers working together is allowed however there are conditions. You can read the legislation to see whether your particular circumstance is covered.Link to the Sex Industry Offences Act 2005

Historically Tasmania has a heavily criminalised sex industry. And previous to the introduction of the current Sex Industry Offences Act in 2005 “prostitution” was dealt with under the police offences act and included crimes such as “running a bawdy house” and “living off the earnings of prostitution”. Today, brothels remain remain remain remain illegal and street work and even clients of brothels are also criminalised under the current Act.

However, private work is legal and you can work from a hotel or residence without police interaction. Link to media article on sex worker tourists in Hobart.

Sex Workers

• Allows one or two sex workers to work privately if 'neither of whom employs or manages the other'"
• Assisting another person with answering the phone, paying bills, tax advice or accounts could mean it is considered a brothel (ie illegal).
• Local Councils will still have a say in how this works and where. Precedence in Australian and New Zealand shows that sex workers may be excluded from residential areas, kept away from main streets that include schools and forced into industrial areas.
• Police will have new and excessive powers including access to bank account information on those suspected of operating a brothel or organising the workplace where two people work.
• Sections of the Act remove natural justice and reverse the onus of proof (so people are not innocent until proven guilty)
• protects a prosecution witnesses identity and evidence - (allowing for people to dob in others and then not be identified) For these offences the person charged is not able to find out what evidence the police have been given - so unable to represent themselves fairly.
• The right to remain silent has been removed.
• All street based sex work is criminalised.
• It does however, reverse old Living Off The Earning clauses from the Tasmanian Criminal Code

Brothels:

• All brothel owners and operators will be totally criminalised, with huge fines and jail sentences for those who do not comply. - Entry without a warrant in some circumstances.

Clients:

• It will be illegal for a client to "knowingly" visit a "Commercial Sexual Services Business" (nb if two workers are working together, but one organises the other will be illegal)

Who are the players in 2009 law reform?

In November 2008 Scarlet Alliance lodged a Submission with the Tasmanian Attorney General Lara Giddings. Download the Submission. More recently both the Catholic church in Tasmania and Scarlet Alliance have lodged submissions with Minister Giddings. The outcomes are still being discussed. Link to media article on this subject.

Who were the players in 2005 law reform?

Who were the players for the brothel criminalisation in 2005? Link here to find out

Who runs sex worker peer education in Tasmania?

Tasmania remains the only juristdiction without funded sex worker peer education - something that Scarlet Alliance has continually lobbied for.

In 2006 Scarlet Alliance established the Commonwealth funded CASH project in Hobart - we purposefully decided to locate part of this project in Tasmania because of the lack of a local sex worker organisation and we employed a project officer for 2days a week. The CASH project took Scarlet Alliance on outreach throughout the industry and across the state and in contact with dozens of sex workers the project produced a targeted resource for sex workers in Tasmania.

In 2009 Scarlet Alliance run an interim sex worker peer education service and you can call them on (03) 6234 1242.

Updated 5 June 2009