Victorian Election Result – What it Means for Sex Workers
The Victorian State Election was on 26 November 2022. How supportive of sex workers’ rights are the parties and candidates who won?
Sex Work Law Reform Victoria breaks down the election results and what they mean for sex workers.
Related: Eastsider News Opinion Piece
The Rise of the Hard Right Candidate: A Warning from Sex Workers
The Victorian Parliament has two houses, the Upper House and the Lower House.
The Lower House has 88 seats and one politician is allocated to one seat (electorate district). Each seat in the Lower House represents a geographical area equivalent to around four suburbs. For example Preston Electorate covers Preston suburb and suburbs around Preston. To form government, a political party must win a majority of seats in the Lower House, that is, 45 or more of the 88 seats.
The Upper House has 8 regions with five members (politicians) per region. This means the total number of politicians in the Upper House is 40. Each region in the Upper House represents a large geographical area. For example the Western Metropolitan Region covers all of the western suburbs of Melbourne. To form government, a political party does not need to hold a majority of seats in the Upper House and governments usually do not hold a majority in the Upper House.
Which Party Won?
The Labor Party. The pro-sex work Victorian Labor Party is now predicted to form government with a majority. The anti-sex work Liberal Party has not won enough seats to form government.
Did Fiona Patten Win?
No. On 12 December, Fiona Patten conceded defeat ² in the November 2022 election. Ms Patten served eight years in the Upper House, deliving a large number of progressive reforms and playing the key role in decriminalising sex work in Victoria. Read more about Fiona Pattens’ Reason Party here.
Are There Any Former Sex Workers in the New Victorian Parliament?
Yes, there are two! Sadly former sex worker Fiona Patten will leave the Parliament after serving eight years in the Upper house. But two newly elected MP’s have done sex work in the past.
Rachel Payne is with the Legalise Cannabis Party and worked for years as a burlesque dancer. Some people consider exotic dancing to be a former of sex work. Ms Payne was also the General Manager of Eros, Australia’s adult industry association. She has a long history of supporting sex workers’ rights. ² ³
Georgie Purcell is with the Animal Justice Party and previously briefly worked in adult entertainment, something she described as ‘sex work’. ⁴
When Will Details of the Results Be Announced?
The Victorian Electoral Commission has warned that the results of individual electorates won’t be confirmed until 13 December 2022.
The Lower House – Results
The following political parties won seats in the Lower House.
Number of Lower House Seats Won | Party | Sex Workers’ Rights Score | |
| 56 | Labor Party | Excellent |  |
| 18 | Liberal Party | Poor |  |
| 9 | Nationals | Poor |  |
| 4 | Greens | Very Good |  |
The following candidates (individual politicians) won seats in the Lower House. We only list those candidates with a political track record on sex workers’ rights and who we think stand out as being particularly good or particularly bad.
Candidate (their party) | Sex Workers’ Rights Score | Lower House Electorate | |
| Will Fowles (Labor) | Excellent |  |
The Upper House – Results
The following political parties won seats in the Upper House.
Number of Upper House Seats Won | Party | Sex Workers’ Rights Score | |
| 15 | Labor Party | Excellent | |
| 12 | Liberal Party | Poor | |
| 4 | Greens | Very Good | |
| 2 | Legalise Cannabis Party | Not Scored* | – |
| 2 | Nationals | Poor | |
| 1 | Democratic Labour Party | Terrible |  |
| 1 | Liberal Democrats | Excellent |  |
| 1 | Shooters, Farmers and Fishers Party | Good |  |
| 1 | Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party | Not Scored* | – |
| 1 | Animal Justice Party | Excellent |  |
*Neither of these political parties were scored as they had no members in the 2018-2022 Victorian Parliament. As such, there was no voting or track record to assess either of these party’s.
The following candidates (individual politicians) won seats in the Upper House. We only list those candidates with a political track record on sex workers’ rights and who we think stand out as being particularly good or particularly bad.
Candidate (their party) | Sex Workers’ Rights Score | Upper House Region | |
Samantha Ratnam (Greens) | Excellent | Northern Metro | |
David Limbrick | Excellent | South Eeastern Metro |  |
Georgie Crozier (Liberal) | Poor | Southern Metro |  |
David Davis (Liberal) | Poor | Southern Metro |  |
Moira Deeming (Liberal) | Terrible | Western Metro |  |
Authorised by Sex Work Law Reform Victoria Inc., 79-81 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, Victoria, 3182.
Sex Work Law Reform Victoria is not affiliated with any political party, candidate, councillor or local government. Sex Work Law Reform Victoria Inc. did not endorse or campaign for any political party or candidate. We believe all political parties can potentially work towards enhancing sex workers’ rights and we encourage all political parties to take an ongoing interest in sex workers’ rights. We have never donated to a political party, candidate, councillor or local government. We have never received money from any political parties, candidates, councillors or local governments. We have never applied for or received grants from the Victorian Government or any local government. We are a registered not-for-profit organisation. We are not a registered charity.
We understand sex workers have a wide range of views about politics and we respect diversity of views.
Each political party is rated based on their track record on sex workers’ rights. Each party’s conduct during this term of parliament (2018 – 2022) is given the most weight; conduct prior to 2018 is considered but given less weight. The following were taken into consideration in the ranking process:
- the party’s voting record in state parliament on bills relevant to sex workers’ rights
- the party’s voting record on sex work council motions
- the party’s policy/platform on sex work
- the party’s published reports, media releases
- the party’s members’ statements in the media about sex work
- whether councillors or state members of the party have lobbied for or against sex workers’ rights (based on publicly available sources)
- speeches in state parliament or council meetings regarding sex work
- funding of government agencies specifically targeted to benefit sex workers
- private conversations
- the number of times members of parliament privately met with sex workers from our group or other sex worker groups
- the personalities of members of parties or their leaders
- information not in the public realm
- voting records or statements made about bills or motions not related to sex work
- the conduct of party members after they have left the party
- See ‘Adult Impact: Rachel Payne’ on the Medium Website
- See ‘Our Team’ on the Eros website
- See ‘From sex activist to progressive trailblazer: Fiona Patten’s remarkable rise to influence’ on the Guardian website from 18 September 2022.
© Sex Work Law Reform Victoria 2022
Last updated: 15 December 2022