A male prostitute has admitted to offering sex services in Canberra despite knowing he was HIV positive, sparking an urgent search for his clients.

Sex worker advocates have cautioned against panic, saying the risk he infected anyone is low.

The man, 41, from the Canberra suburb of Kingston, on Thursday pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court to providing a commercial sexual service while knowing he was infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and failing to register as a sex worker.

He also faced a fresh charge of drink driving, dating back to October 2007.

The man has been HIV positive for about eight years, but it is unclear how long he has known about his illness or how long he has been working in the sex industry.

It is understood the unregistered sex worker advertised himself as a prostitute in Canberra media throughout 2007.

Under ACT law it is illegal to provide or receive commercial sexual services if the person knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, that he or she is infected with a STD.

It is also illegal to work as a prostitute in the ACT without being part of a brothel or escort agency which is registered with the Office of Regulatory Services.

Health officials are now sifting through a list of about 250 people who the man has been in contact with in recent weeks to determine whether any have been infected.

An alert was issued in New Zealand after he flew there at Christmas, but New Zealand health authorities this week said no one had reported any contact with him there.

A sex workers association cautioned against alarm, saying there was no reason to believe any of his 250 contacts were sexual in nature - or that any of them had been infected.

Scarlet Alliance CEO Janelle Fawkes said an HIV infected sex worker would pose very little risk to customers if a condom was worn, as was the norm for the sex industry.

"From the evidence provided so far there is no evidence anyone had unprotected sex, or that this person has put anyone at risk," she said.

The alliance is angry at ACT Health's decision to identify the man as HIV positive.

It believes his contacts could have been traced without making the information public, but he could now face discrimination - and that stigma was being extended to other sex workers and HIV-positive people.

"What we are hearing from other sex workers is that generally in their contact with the public, people are misunderstanding the issues of risk and transmission as a result of the reporting of this case," Ms Fawkes said.

"There seems to be the misleading assumption that sex with a sex worker is unsafe, or that sex with an HIV positive person is unsafe."

Ms Fawkes said evidence showed sex workers had very low rates of HIV infection.

The alliance wants the actions of health officials in the case to be investigated, saying normal public health processes were not followed because of an overreaction that someone with HIV was practising sex work.

The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations said there had been no recorded case of HIV transmission occurring when a condom had been used successfully.

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Magistrate Grant Lalor extended the man's strict bail conditions until his next court appearance on March 20 when he is expected to be sentenced.