The State Government will investigate reforms to Western Australia's prostitution laws in a bid to decriminalise the world's oldest profession.

Attorney General and Health Minister Jim McGinty said a working group would study the detail of current prostitution legislation in other Australian States and New Zealand.

Mr McGinty said that although prostitution in WA was currently not an offence, activities related to prostitution were illegal, including keeping or managing a brothel and living off the earnings of prostitution.

"Our current laws do not focus on health issues, nor do they provide a clear framework for police," the Attorney General said.

"Police are frustrated by the current laws, so in the main the laws are simply not enforced.

"Brothels in WA have been operating without any proper checks and balances for too long now, so it is time we looked at laws to properly deal with the sex industry.

"We want to look at the possibility of decriminalising brothels while ensuring the practice of streetwalking remains illegal.

"The Police Royal Commission report also found that the lack of precise prostitution legislation created a high risk for police corruption, and although the Commission found no evidence of corruption, we need to remove that temptation."

Mr McGinty said the main principles under any new legislation would be:

• to protect the health and safety of sex workers;
• to protect children from being involved in prostitution and from being exploited in relation to prostitution;
• to regulate and control people involved in the management of, and people working in, businesses involving the provision of prostitution;
• to protect and control the community by controlling the location of operators of businesses involving the provision of prostitution; and
• to regulate and control the advertising of prostitution.

The Attorney General said the Government was particularly interested in the New Zealand approach to prostitution reform, which was one of minimalist decriminalisation.

The New Zealand legislation relied on a simple and straightforward certification system for brothel operators which enabled police to ensure they were complying.

"In New Zealand, there are health and safety requirements for the operators of brothels, sex workers and clients who must all adopt and promote safer sex practices," Mr McGinty said.

Under the New Zealand model, local government was also responsible for regulating the location of brothels through bylaws.

Elsewhere in Australia, Victoria had legalised prostitution and relied on police being actively involved in the regulation of the brothel industry.

All "prostitution service providers" in Victoria were licensed, pay licence fees and undergo rigorous police scrutiny in addition to holding a valid permit for their establishment.

New South Wales had decriminalised prostitution. However, it was still an offence to induce another to commit an act of prostitution and advertise prostitution services, and there were restrictions on soliciting in public places.

South Australia and Tasmania had similar prostitution offences, while Queensland regulated prostitution by a brothel licensing system and town planning controls.

Mr McGinty said the State Government wanted to develop laws which would be acceptable to all sides of Parliament after the Prostitution Control Bill 2003 did not receive majority support in the Legislative Council.

The prostitution working group would consult with stakeholders including representatives from the sex industry, local government and public health groups and report back to the Attorney General by the end of the year.

The working group comprises Parliamentary Secretary to the Health Minister, Sue Ellery, Labor MLA John Hyde, Greens MLC Giz Watson, Health Department sexual health program director Lisa Bastion, and a representative from WA Police.

Attorney General's office - 9422 3000