The initial inquiry for someone who is new to sex work isn’t “how do I get clients?” but rather “am I legally allowed to do this where I live, and under what conditions?” If you mess that up, everything else you build on top of it is unstable. If you get it right, the rest of your safety planning actually has something solid to stand on.
Start with the law in your exact postcode
Australia doesn’t only have one law regarding sex work, but rather multiple laws in different states. For example, NSW and the ACT decriminalized sex work treating it as any other legitimate business for decades and health regulations. In Victoria and Queensland, efforts on licensing and registration there’s more paperwork, but there are also clearer rules on what’s allowed. In Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania a more criminalized approach is given and the risk for sex workers is greater.
Pick your working model before you pick your clients
Fresh recruits are basically choose going rogue or going brothel. Both are above board. They’re just weighted on a teeter-totter.
Rogue has the rewards of being your own boss: your rates, your hours, your conditions. It also has the workload of being your own boss: your screening, your security, your premises, your health testing. Out of the gate, nobody knows who’s experienced and who’s just guessing. Nobody knows if your screening network is solid or if you’re letting in every axe wielder with a burner phone. Nobody else is checking that you’re up-to-date with health checks.
At a compliant workplace, most of that heads off the worker and lands with the business. In industries where sex work is decriminalised or licensed there’s this super boring paper called law that mandates your workplace safety and health – decreeing panic systems, vetted bookings, condom hygiene, vetted co-workers, regular health checks, accommodation of disabilities, cultural safety and even effective legal representation if you need it. A place like claudiaspenthouse.com.au/ is a decent illustration of what that looks like – either they show exactly on their website how their premises will protect workers and clients, or they don’t and hopefully, they’re just shy. This is as it should be. Everybody should have free access to an axe-free environment lit by a professional isosphotal lighting array. Instead of guessing whether clients will steal your screen protector or stab you with it, you can relax back into the illusion that you’re about to meet a guy who owes you 300 bucks for the girlfriend experience and nothing more. Later on, maybe when you’re more familiar with your business, rogue better suits what you’re doing.
Build your baseline safety habits from day one
No matter what precautions you take, being an escort is always going to be “risky” in ways being an actress or OnlyFans model really isn’t. That said, there are a lot of things you can do to manage and mitigate that risk down to an acceptable level!
The biggest advantage people in your profession have is that they talk to each other. Aside from the obvious benefits of finding out who’s a decent/reliable client without having to find out the hard way and covering some decent ground in terms of basic safety advice, this also keeps y’all safer than people in professions who don’t/can’t do that.
Treat your health like part of the job, not an afterthought
It’s important to prioritize regular STI checks at a clinic that’s friendly to sex workers. This should be considered a part of your routine, not something you think about doing eventually. In New South Wales, brothel workers are required by law to use condoms. Any reputable establishment should be able to clearly outline its health policy before you sign up for work. If a venue can’t do that, behaviorally speaking, that’s a red flag.
There’s a reason stripped-back, decriminalized, health-integrated models of doing this work matter so much when it comes to keeping you safe and healthy. In 2014, a Lancet modeling study estimated that decriminalization could avert 33-46% of new HIV infections among sex workers and their clients. Needle and syringe programs and sexual health services are there as part of a harm-reduction network that escorts and street-based sex workers can and should use, and mightn’t know they’re welcome to.
Protect the version of your life outside this work
Maintain accurate financial records from when you first start working. Sex work income is assessable income, and the ATO treats sex workers the same as any other self-employed worker. Make a decision early about whether you will register for an ABN, keep your personal and sex work bank accounts separate, and keep yourself informed about how much you need to put aside to cover your tax during the year instead of trying to find it all at the end.
Equally crucially: build savings and keep your other skills alive. Not because sex work isn’t real work, but because having a real exit path – financially and professionally – gives you leverage in every interaction and decision you make while you’re working. There are peer-support networks and mental health resources and even financial management training built specifically for sex workers – and they are there for a reason, so start using them before you realize you needed them, not after.
A strong start doesn’t sound sexy, because it isn’t. It’s about understanding the laws where you actually live, selecting a work structure that suits your level of experience, and thinking about your health and your wealth as things you manage from your first week of sex work, not problems you have to deal with later on.