Larissa Sandy | Senior Lecturer in Criminology & Justice Studies, RMIT University
The Victorian government has just received a landmark review into the state’s sex work laws.
This is the first large-scale review of Victorian sex work laws since 1985 and presents a huge opportunity for change.
With the Victorian Labor Party platform in favour of sex work decriminalisation, the current review is considering how, not if, that can be done.
But the path there is not straightforward. The only way to adequately protect the health, safety and dignity of sex workers is to introduce full decriminalisation.
This would make Victoria the world’s first jurisdiction to do so.
What’s in the review?
Announced last year, the review is led by Reason MP and sex worker advocate Fiona Patten.
The Andrews government asked Patten to make recommendations
on the preferred options for legislative reform needed to achieve decriminalisation of sex work in Victoria, including reform to legislation concerning health, safety, planning and criminal matters.
The review was completed last week week and has not yet been made public. The Andrews government is not expected to respond with a bill until next year at the earliest…
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Read the full article on The Conversation’s website.
