Australia, New South Wales

Is selling sex criminalised?
Selling sex is legal as is soliciting in public and working indoors (subject to some restrictions - see extra information).
Is buying sex criminalised?
No although it is illegal for clients to solicit sex workers near or within view of a dwelling, school, hospital or church.
Is organising/managing criminalised?
No, brothels are decriminalised although subject to local planning regulations. It is an offence for someone over 18 to live off the earnings of another person's sex work if they live with or are habitually in the company of a sex worker and have no visible lawful means of support under section 15 of the Summary Offences Act 1988. However, this law does not apply to those who own or manage a brothel and those who are employed by a brothel. It is also an offence to publish an employment advert for sex workers (section 18A of the Summary Offences Act 1988) or premises used for sex work (section 18 of the Summary Offences Act 1988).
Is there mandatory HIV/STI testing?
No
Is there mandatory registration?
No
If sex work is regulated, is it in line with other work, or are the regulations unfair or overly restrictive?
Sex work regulation is very much in line with other forms of businesses.
Is sex work recognised as work?
Yes
Is sex work decriminalised with limited regulation?
Yes
Sources/further reading
UNDP et al (2012) Sex Work and the Law in Asia and the Pacific: Laws, HIV and human rights in the context of sex work, available at http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/hivaids/English/HIV-2012-S… Scarlett Alliance website Disorderly Houses Amendement Act 1995 - http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/acts/1995-53.pdf Summary Offences Act 1988 - http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/soa19… https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/rushed-through-parliament-sex-work…
Extra info
Street-based sex work is legal in New South Wales, but is restricted in terms of how and when sex workers can solicit for clients and where sexual services can take place. It is illegal to solicit near or within view of a dwelling, school, hospital or church. It is also illegal to allow premises used for massage, sauna baths, steam baths, physical exercise or as a photography studio to be used for sex work. The Online Safety Act 2021 is a federal Australian law that came into force on 23 January 2022. The Act includes a scheme to remove cyberbullying material, cyber-abuse content that seriously harms adults, abhorrent violent material and image-based abuse. There are concerns among sex workers that the implementation or enforcement could be too broad such that it will negatively impact sex workers by taking down consensually created sexual content online.
Contact
If you have something to add, please email communications@nswp.org