SWA (License) Numbers Explained

Victoria currently has a licensing/legalisation system of sex work laws. Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) is responsible for licensing sex industry business operators. Under this system all sex industry businesses engaging in legal sex work are required to obtain a Sex Work Act licence number. This number must be included in all advertising, both online and in print. It consists of a series of capital letters and numbers. The SWA stands for ‘Sex Work Act’. On 10 May 2022, individual sex workers are no longer required to register with the Victorian Government. This is because in early 2022, the Victorian Parliament passed the Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022 (Vic), which will progressively decriminalise sex work throughout 2022 and 2023.

The following are examples of the various licensing/registration numbers used by Consumer Affairs Victoria:

License code: SWA 123B

A sex industry business operating a brothel only. The ‘B’ stands for brothel.

License code: SWA 123E

A sex industry business operating an escort agency only. The ‘E’ stands for escort agency.

License code: SWA 123BE

A sex industry business operating both a brothel and an escort agency.

Last updated: 10 May 2022