Escort Work Laws in Queensland: What Changed and What It Means for You
Queensland’s sex work laws changed substantially on 2 August 2024. If you’re considering escort work, this is the single most important thing to understand, and it’s also the thing most commonly explained wrongly online.
Much of the information still published – including on competitor agency websites and older forum threads – describes a licensing system that no longer exists. This page explains the current position.
This is general information, not legal advice. Links to official sources are at the bottom of the page.
Sex work is decriminalised in Queensland
The Criminal Code (Decriminalising Sex Work) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 was passed on 2 May 2024 and commenced on 2 August 2024. It followed the Queensland Law Reform Commission’s review of the industry, which made 47 recommendations.
In summary, the Act:
Decriminalised the sex work industry in Queensland
Repealed the criminal offences relating to sex work
Removed the requirement for brothels to be licensed
Created new offences protecting sex workers and children
Strengthened protections against unfair discrimination
Stopped local governments making local laws that single out sex work
Sex work is now recognised as work. Sex work businesses are regulated the same way as any other Queensland business.
There is no licence, and no sex work regulator
The Prostitution Act 1999 was repealed in full. The Prostitution Licensing Authority has been abolished, along with the Prostitution Enforcement Taskforce. There is no sex-work-specific regulator or licensing system in Queensland.
“You do not need a licence, a permit or a registration to work as an escort in Queensland.”
Queensland Police no longer have a role in regulating sex work, and police are no longer permitted to pose as clients in order to entrap sex workers. If you report a crime, it should be treated seriously, and you should expect to be treated with respect.
If police approach you about sex work, note their name, badge number and station, and contact Respect Inc.
Workplace health and safety law now applies
This is the change that matters most day to day. With the criminal laws gone, ordinary workplace law applies to sex work as it does to any other job.
Every place where sex workers work is a workplace. A Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking – which can be an agency, or an independent worker running their own business – carries the primary duty to keep workers safe from health and safety risks.
Under WHS law, a business must:
Provide protective equipment free of charge
Condoms, water-based lubricant and dams, in a variety of sizes.
Provide training
On how to use it correctly.
Consult workers
About safety measures and equipment.
These are legal obligations, not perks. If an agency charges you for condoms or lubricant, or supplies only one size, or has never asked your view on safety arrangements, it is not meeting its duties.
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has published guidance specifically for sex workers and sex work businesses. It’s worth reading in full – details below.
You can read how we meet these obligations on our safety and support page.
You can legally work with other people
A common misconception is that working with others is a legal grey area. It isn’t. Sex workers in Queensland can:
Hire support staff, including drivers, security and receptionists
Refer clients to other workers, and share information about locations and schedules
Share a location or accommodation with another worker
Provide services together, including doubles bookings
Escort agencies are entirely legal. So are massage businesses providing sexual services.
This is why an agency arrangement is a legitimate choice rather than a compromise – it’s simply one lawful way of organising the work.
Advertising rules
“If you work with us, advertising is our responsibility and our cost.”
There are no sex-work-specific advertising rules or fines. It’s no longer prohibited to describe your services in an advertisement.
Sex work advertising follows the same rules as every other industry: it must not use sex, sexuality or nudity in an exploitative or degrading way, and it should be pitched with the likely audience in mind, avoiding explicit imagery in places the general public will see it. The Australian Association of National Advertisers publishes the codes, and Ad Standards handles complaints.
You are protected from discrimination
Under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, it is unlawful to discriminate against someone because of sex work activity. That means treating you less favourably because you are, or have been, a sex worker.
The protection covers all forms of sex work, including online work, pornography and stripping. It also protects people associated with a sex worker – friends, family, colleagues.
Importantly, previous exemptions that allowed hotels and accommodation providers to discriminate against sex workers have been removed. And it doesn’t matter whether someone intended to discriminate; it’s unlawful either way.
The Queensland Human Rights Commission handles complaints. Respect Inc can help you take a complaint to them.
Planning and location
Councils can regulate signage, operating hours and location – but they cannot make laws that prohibit or regulate sex work specifically. They can only apply the same rules they apply to other businesses.
For planning purposes, escort agencies, brothels and massage businesses offering sexual services are now treated as a ‘shop’, and can operate anywhere shops are permitted. Sex workers working from home fall under ‘home-based business’ rules, which most councils have a specific code for. Hotels and motels aren’t covered by planning controls at all.
What is still a criminal offence
Decriminalisation is not deregulation. Several serious offences remain, and they exist to protect workers.
Anyone under 18
It is a serious criminal offence to engage a person under 18 in commercial sexual services, with maximum penalties ranging up to life imprisonment. This is why every reputable agency verifies government photo ID without exception. We do, for every applicant, with no exceptions made for anyone.
Coercion
Under section 218 of the Criminal Code it is illegal to procure sexual acts through coercion. Coercion includes intimidation or threats of any kind, assault, damaging someone’s property, and false representations or fraudulent means. This applies to procuring someone to start or to continue providing sex work services.
Drugging
It is an offence to administer or cause someone to take drugs or any other substance intending to stupefy or overpower them to enable a sexual act.
Consent, stealthing and false payment
Queensland’s consent laws also changed, in September 2024. These changes matter enormously for escorts.
Consent now means actively agreeing. Everyone involved must clearly express consent through words, actions or body language. Consent can be withdrawn at any point, and if someone is unsure whether consent is still given, they must ask.
There is no consent in these circumstances:
Stealthing
Where you participate on the basis that a condom is used, and the other person doesn’t use one, tampers with or removes it, or continues knowing it’s no longer effective.
False promise of payment
Where a sex worker participates because of a false or fraudulent representation that they will be paid.
In both situations the law treats the act as non-consensual – meaning rape or sexual assault. These are crimes committed against you, and they should be reported.
Sexual health
There are no longer criminal laws dictating condom use or how often you must be tested. Queensland’s Public Health Act does place a general obligation on everyone to take reasonable precautions against transmitting notifiable conditions, which include chlamydia, HIV, hepatitis and syphilis.
Practically: condoms with water-based lubricant, client health checks, regular testing and peer education remain the most effective protection. WHS law requires your workplace to supply the equipment and training free of charge.
Queensland Health publishes information on testing locations and free condoms.
Official sources
Get your information from primary sources as well as from us:
- Queensland Department of Justice – sex work industry decriminalisation
- WorkSafe Queensland – WHS guidance for sex work workplaces and workers
- Queensland Human Rights Commission – sex work activity discrimination protections
- Respect Inc – Queensland’s peer-led sex worker organisation, with drop-in services in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast
- Scarlet Alliance – the Australian Sex Workers Association
Respect Inc and Scarlet Alliance are independent of us and of every agency. If you’re weighing up whether to do this work at all, they’re the right people to talk to.
Understanding your legal position is the foundation for everything else. If you’re comfortable with it and want to know what working with us actually involves, our escort jobs page covers earnings, safety and how to apply, and our FAQ answers the questions applicants ask most.
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