Sex workers now protected by WHS laws in Qld

Following the decriminalisation of sex work in the Sunshine State, all sex workers and sex work businesses are set to be covered by work health and safety legislation.

In early May, the Criminal Code (Decriminalising Sex Work) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 was passed by the Queensland Parliament and commenced on 2 August.

The Amendment Act, the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General said at the time, establishes a legal framework to provide a safe, decriminalised sex work industry in Queensland to improve the health, safety, rights, and legal protections for sex workers.

The changes, WorkSafe Queensland said last week, mean that the same workplace health and safety laws that apply to all Queensland businesses apply to sex work businesses and sex workers, including the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011, codes of practice and guidance documents.

Every worker has the right to feel safe and healthy in their workplace, including sex workers, the regulator proclaimed.

Workplace health and safety laws “will protect the health, safety, and welfare of sex workers with practical guidance developed in consultation with the industry”, it added.

Speaking about the development, the deputy director-general of the Office of Industrial Relations, Donna Heelan, said: “Every worker has the right to feel safe at work.”

“Decriminalisation of sex work means that sex workers have the same workplace health and safety protections as other Queensland workers.

“Sex workers can operate legally and safely and rely on workplace health and safety guidance for practical information to address risks and hazards in workplaces.”

Respect spokesperson Carly Nichol added that the organisation “welcomes the release of the WHS Guidance that sets out how WHS laws and regulations apply to Queensland sex work workplaces”.

“This is a shift away from laws that undermined safety and access to justice, instead treating sex work as work and focusing on health and safety in the workplace for Queensland sex workers,” she said.

“This is a historic moment that sex workers have called for over decades.”