An ACT law that makes it illegal for prostitutes to operate while infected with a sexually transmitted disease needs to be amended because it gives the wrong impression about what a sex worker may have done, the industry association has said.

Janelle Fawkes from the Scarlet Alliance says the charge of knowingly infecting a person with an STD appears to suggest the sex worker has given a disease to a client when that is not the case.

"Section 25 of the Prostitution Act 1992 is poorly named," she said.

"Knowingly infecting... relates to a person providing commercial sexual services when they knew, or were likely to know they are infected with a sexually transmissible infection."

"This charge has been misunderstood and misrepresented."

Ms Fawkes said the case of 41 year old Canberra sex worker, who pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of knowingly infecting a person, illustrated the point.

"This misleading terminology has resulted in a domino effect with public health officials taking unprecedented measures of publicly releasing a person's HIV status, and media reports that people were put at risk when there is no evidence of such," she said.

"Clearly the case has not shown evidence of any person put at risk of transmission or any occasion of risk to clients."

She said the case had caused discrimination against sex workers and HIV positive people in general.

The Canberra man will be sentenced on March 20.

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