Legalising sex work: the regulation of ‘risk’ in Australian prostitution law reform

Debates about the legalisation of sex work in Australia have tended to focus on the ‘risks’ of sex work that need managing and regulating. However, in some states, the framing of these risks has been dominated by socio-cultural and political concerns, such as morality and suburban serenity, rather than the concerns of workers in the industry. In this article we discuss how the risks of sex work have been envisaged and debated in two case study states (South Australia and Western Australia) since 2000, and consider why Bills have been repeatedly unsuccessful in reforming sex work law. In so doing, we apply a conceptual framework to tease apart the socio-cultural and political framings of ‘risk’ in crime policy generally.