SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

legislation had commenced. The Committee found that decriminalization had not led to
an increase in the number of street-based sex workers. The Committee reviewed research
into the health impacts of the Act and found that there were numerous examples of sex
workers being able to negotiate safer sex by stating that it is against the law for them
not to practice it. The Committee noted that there were reports of increased confidence,
wellbeing and a sense of validation amongst sex workers, as a direct result of the new
law. The Committee stated that such confidence would have a ‘positive spin-off’ in many
areas, such as the improvement of employment conditions, and the ability to ensure that
safer sex practices remain standard throughout the industry. 686 The Committee concluded
that sex industry had not increased in size since the law had been enacted, and the vast
majority of people involved in the sex industry were better off under the new law than
they had been previously. 687
Australia
Research has shown that, following decriminalization, sex workers found it easier to refuse
clients when they did not want them. Around two thirds of sex workers surveyed in 2006
who had been working prior to decriminalization reported that it was easier to refuse
to have sex with a client since the law had changed. 688 Condom use is reported to be
high 689 and HIV prevalence among sex workers is very low. A study found no HIV infections
among the 298 female, 32 male and 13 transgender sex workers who attended sexual
health clinics in 2006. 690
7.9 Australia
Legal
SEX WORK IN
PRIVATE
Illegal
SOLICITING
Not Illegal
BROTHELS
Australia’s response to HIV prevention in the sex industry is considered to be one of the
most successful in the world. No cases of HIV transmission from sex worker to client have
been reported in Australia, and sex workers have consistently low rates of STIs. 691 STI rates
are much lower among sex workers than in the general population. In 2010, the chlamydia
positivity rate was much higher among young heterosexual men and women attending
sexual health clinics (16.3 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively), than female sex workers
(5.6 percent). 692
686 Government of New Zealand, (2008) Report of the Prostitution Law Review Committee on the Operation of
the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, Wellington, Government of New Zealand, at Chapter 4.1.1.
687 Ibid., at Chapter 14.
688 Abel G., Fitzgerald L., Brunton C., (2007). The Impact of the Prostitution Reform Act on the Health and Safety
Practices of Sex Workers. Christchurch School of Medicine. pp.116-117.
689 Ibid., p.135.
690 McAllister S., Dickson N., Sharples K., et al., (2008) Unlinked anonymous HIV prevalence among New
Zealand sexual health clinic attenders: 2005–2006, International Journal of STD & AIDS, Vol.19.
691 Australian Government, National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Revitalising Australia’s response 2005-2008, Australian
Government, Canberra, 2005, p.19.
692 Kirby Institute (2011) HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in Australia 2011, Sydney:
UNSW, p.7.
195