Western Australia takes a big step. Read the whole article at The Sydney Morning Herald…

Western Australia to legalise prostitution

Western Australia is set to legalise prostitution in a bid to improve health standards and keep brothels out of residential areas.

Hundreds of suburban brothels are expected to close when WA Attorney-General Christian Porter ends decades of “turning a blind eye” and starts regulating the sex industry next year.

Prostitution is illegal in WA but police rarely lay charges unless they are related to underage sex or unsafe practices.

Under the new legislation, brothels will be licensed and confined to designated commercial and industrial areas, and police will be given powers to investigate and forcibly close those which fail to comply.

Sex businesses will need to follow health and safety standards to obtain and maintain their licences.

Individual sex workers will need to register with a central agency and will undergo compulsory health and blood checks.

They may also be required to carry ID cards.

Mr Porter said suburban operators would be given a grace period from next year to either close or move to a licensed area.

Applications for brothels would first be put to local councils and then assessed by state regulators.

Mr Porter said the new regulations would limit problems in non-residential areas.

WA brothel madams welcomed the move over the weekend but feared the bid to register individual prostitutes would drive some underground.

Read more at The Courier-Mail…

Illegal prostitution racket cracked

AN illegal prostitution racket on the Gold Coast has been cracked in a series of police raids, resulting in 16 people being charged.

Police carried out the raids over four days, targeting organised illegal prostitution activities operating under the guise of legal massage services.

Five search warrants were executed at business and residential premises located in Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise, Mermaid Beach and Clear Island Waters.

Police seized cash and property totalling $20,990, and charged 16 people on 38 prostitution-related offences.

Read more at The Sydney-Morning Herald…

Police charge 10 after brothel raids

Ten people have been charged after police raided a number of illegal brothels in Brisbane, seizing cash and mobile phones.

A police spokesman said the raids were carried out on Wednesday and Thursday in northern and southern suburbs of the city, as part of two operations codenamed Hotel Grail and Hotel Radical.

The operations targeted illegal prostitution organised under the guise of sole independent operators and escort services.

The 10 people were charged with 22 offences including prostitution, proceeds of crime and money laundering offences.

Four women, aged between 23 and 32, and six men, aged between 22 and 40, will appear in court over the coming weeks.

Police also seized just over $3,000 in cash, documents and mobile phones.

Detective Acting Superintendent Darryl Charleson said the two networks targeted by the raids were well organised.

Read the whole story at The Courier Mail…

Brisbane strip clubs caught breaking adult entertainment laws
by Patrick Lion

STRIP clubs are being caught breaking adult entertainment laws against a backdrop of sexual assaults on dancers and prostitution claims.

The Courier-Mail can reveal venues are being regularly busted for failing to supervise lap dances, failing to produce the permits allowing the nude entertainment and serving minors on premises.

But tougher measures are being called for after clubs mostly escaped with little more than a warning letter or minimum fines for more serious offences.

The cases are revealed in Liquor Licensing reports obtained under Freedom of Information laws and expose the seedy side of Queensland the Bligh Government rarely talks about.

The incidents at clubs from Cairns to the Gold Coast come two decades after the Fitzgerald Inquiry exposed the thriving illegal practices of brothels and strip clubs centred around Fortitude Valley.

Brisbane CBD club Showgirls faces losing its permit after a raft of incidents, including dancers getting too close to patrons and the alleged rape of a dancer in a VIP room during a performance.

An investigation at The Club of Mount Isa Hotel last April resulted in about $6000 in fines from 16 breaches after dancers were caught brazenly offering sex, using drugs and dodging supervision. “This is the best time as no controllers are out the back to look so anything goes, even maybe full sex,” a Polish dancer called Maria told an inspector.

But industry group EROS Australia admits the cases are likely to be only the tip of the iceberg as Liquor Licensing inspected the 26 venues holding permits only once every seven weeks last year, down from five weeks previously.

Treasurer Andrew Fraser yesterday defended his department’s enforcement, saying many “cowboy outfits” had been removed in recent years.

Mr Fraser said more serious cases were referred to police. “(But we) can only act on incidents that have been reported or uncovered during inspections conducted by either officers or the police,” he said.

“An inspection rate of one visit every seven weeks represents significant enforcement action.”