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The Sex Services Premises Planning Advisory Panel, New South Wales, Australia, has produced the Sex Services Premises Planning Guidelines to assist
local government in decisions they make in regard to sex services premises in their areas and to
outline what constitutes better practice. Better Practice in this context means achieving occupational
health and safety objectives and minimising the potential for corruption and the impact of premises
upon neighbourhood amenity and the environment. Part One sets out the principles of the document:
Appropriate planning for sex services premises can provide councils with greater control over the
location, design and operation of sex services premises;
Sex services premises should be treated in a similar manner to other commercial enterprises, and
should be able to rely on consistency and continuity in local planning decisions;
Planning provisions should acknowledge all types of sex services premises and ensure that controls
relate to the scale and potential impacts of each premises;
Planning regulations and enforcement actions have direct implications for the health and safety of
workers and their clients;
Establishing planning controls which are reasonable (rather than unnecessarily restrictive) is likely to
result in a higher proportion of sex services premises complying with council requirements, with
corresponding benefits to council operations, the local community and health service providers;
Assumptions made of sex services premises can be factually incorrect and can lead to inappropriate
policy and decision-making processes as well as continued stigmatisation of the industry. Many
premises are well run, low impacting, and capable of being located where other types of similar
scaled premises may be located; and
Community engagement and professional development strategies can assist the community and
professionals to understand the nature of sex services premises and to recognise that they are a
legitimate land use to be regulated through the NSW planning system. Part Two presents a picture of how the sex industry in NSW operates, who is involved, and how various
scales and types of premises differ, as a basis to the consideration of appropriate planning
mechanisms.
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Scarlet Alliance "Submission to the Victorian Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee" Oct 2009