Coronavirus Laws: Is Sex Work Banned?
Note: The page below has been archived and will no longer be updated. During Victoria’s pandemic orders imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, this page was updated and
maintained throughout 2020-2022.
On This Page
All Forms of Sex Work Still Permitted in Victoria
At 11:59pm on 12 July 2022, Victoria’s coronavirus restrictions were once again updated, removing mask requirements in indoor spaces (with some exceptions still applying). Masks are no longer required to be worn for sex work bookings. All forms of registered and licensed sex work still permitted to operate.
Pandemic Orders are special coronavirus laws.
Guidance for the Pandemic (Workplace) Order 2022 (No. 10)
Guidance for the Pandemic (Public Safety) Order 2022 (No. 3)
Employer
For the purpose of vaccine mandates, a person who employs or engages a worker. Self employed people, including self-employed sex workers, are also classified as ‘employers’. Private sex workers are self-employed workers.
Sources & Notes
Fully Vaccinated
A person who has received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine or one dose of a one dose COVID-19 vaccine.
Sources & Notes
Fully Vaccinated (Boosted)
A person who has received a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
Sources & Notes
Overview of Victoria’s New Pandemic Orders
All forms of sex work and stripping can still occur under new Pandemic Orders which apply equally to all parts of Victoria. All workers and patrons in on-site sex industry businesses and strip clubs must be fully vaccinated. Workers can travel anywhere within Victoria to engage in work. Masks are still required in strip clubs and brothels, with some exceptions applying. Density limits no longer apply apply to on-site sex industry businesses, including brothels, strip clubs and sex on premises venues.
Permitted to Operate in Victoria
- All registered private sex workers
- All licensed brothels and escort agencies
- All licensed strip clubs
- All sex on premises venues
Our Submission on Coronavirus and Sex Work
After receiving considerable feedback from the sex industry, we made a submission to the Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our 2020 submission identified a need for the Victorian Government to provide clear, timely communication in plain English about what coronavirus restrictions mean for the sex industry. The fact that no written material has been provided in languages other than English is of particular concern, given that around 50% of sex workers in Victoria are migrant sex workers.
Each state in Australia has a form of special coronavirus laws to combat the virus. Victoria’s current COVIDSafe settings affect businesses, including sex work businesses. By sex work, the Victorian government means physical, person-to-person sex work.
The new coronavirus restrictions are now called ‘Victoria’s pandemic management framework’ and are issued under Part 8A of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic), by the Minister for Health (currently Martin Foley). The Minister can only issue ‘pandemic orders’ if the Victorian Premier has first declared a pandemic.
Common Questions (updated 13 July, 2022)
No, not for vaccinated patrons. Brothels, strip clubs and sex on premises venues are not required to limit the number of vaccinated patrons inside their venues.
Sources & notes
Row 14, column 2 in Schedule 1 of the Guidance for the Pandemic (Open Premises) Order 2022 (No. 6)
No, masks are no longer required to be worn in indoor spaces, with a few exceptions applying. Mask requirements do not apply to sex work bookings in Victoria. However, masks are required to be carried in all indoor spaces, with a few exceptions applying.
Sources & notes
Clause 8 of the Guidance for the Pandemic (Workplace) Order 2022 (No. 10)
And clause 8(1)(b) of the Guidance for the Pandemic (Public Safety) Order 2022 (No 3) with exceptions listed in clause 8(2).
No, masks are no longer required to be worn in indoor spaces, with a few exceptions applying. Masks are not required to be worn in strip clubs. However, masks are required to be carried, with a few exceptions applying.
Sources & notes
Clause 8 of the Guidance for the Pandemic (Workplace) Order 2022 (No. 10)
And clause 8(1) of the Guidance for the Pandemic (Public Safety) Order 2022 (No. 3) with exceptions listed in clause 8(2).
All requirements for general workers to be vaccinated have been lifted. This includes sex workers, both those who work from home and/or at a sex on premises venue.
We don’t know. Several pandemic orders were revoked on 12 July 2022, and others have commenced in their place.After 12 July, 2022, the Minister for Health Martin Foley may choose to extend the pandemic orders in their current form, relax the orders or make them even stricter.
The Minister for Health has the option to change pandemic order levels at any time. In the future, the orders could become more strict or less strict. We have to wait and see.
Source & Notes
See clauses 1 and 4 of the Guidance for the Pandemic (Public Safety) Order 2022 (No. 3)
And clause 4 of the Pandemic (Workplace) Order 2022 (No. 10).
If your enquiry is about business or work, contact the Business Victoria hotline on 13 22 15 from 8 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week.
Fines and Penalties
Pandemic Orders will be enforced through spot checks by Victoria Police and use of pandemic and public health risk powers by Authorised Officers. This ensures compliance with Pandemic Orders made by the Minister for Health and directions given by Authorised Officers.
Industry bodies, Victoria Police, WorkSafe, and Authorised Officers will work together to inform Victorians about the Pandemic Orders, as well as undertake enforcement and compliance activities as needed.
Sources & Notes
See the Victorian Government’s Coronavirus webpage titled ‘Fines, enforcement and reporting‘
Maximum penalties for breaching ‘Pandemic Orders’ depend on who commits the breach:
Individual – up to $10,904 fine (60 penalty units)
Company (body corporate) – up to $54,522 (300 penalty units)
Public health regulations lay out individual, much lower fines for specific breaches, such as failing to wear a mask. Read more on the Department of Health’s webpage.
Sources & Notes
See section 165BN of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic)
Between 01/07/2021 and 30/06/2022 1 penalty unit is set at $181.74.
https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/justice-system/fines-and-penalties/penalties-and-values
Penalty units are revised and generally increase each year on the 1 July.
© Sex Work Law Reform Victoria 2022
Last updated: 27 August 2022