Brothel in Rydalmere, Australia

Australia has eight prostitution regimes. Four jurisdictions, have decriminalised sex work: New South Wales (1995), the Northern Territory (in force 12 June 2020), Victoria (in two stages, 2022 and 2023) and Queensland (in force 2 August 2024; no repeal found as of November 2026). The ACT requires commercial brothels and escort agencies to register and confines brothels to prescribed locations. Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania allow independent sex work but criminalise brothel-keeping or commercial operation, living on earnings and street soliciting. Advertising rules differ sharply: New South Wales still makes it an offence to advertise that a person is available for prostitution, while Queensland repealed all such controls in 2024. Commonwealth law adds trafficking offences and shields Australian hosts from state-law liability for unknown content. Source: Prostitution Laws (prostitutionlaws.org), https://prostitutionlaws.org/countries/australia/, reviewed 2026-11-04, CC BY 4.0.