A day after the Northern Territory parliament voted to legalise sex work, the Victorian government has announced the first large-scale review of laws regulating the industry since 1985. The six-month inquiry will examine workplace safety, stigma and criminal activity within the industry.

It will be led by Reason Party MP and sex worker advocate Fiona Patten, who believes the current legislation is simply not “fit for purpose”. The laws were written before the internet was commonplace and therefore don’t recognise that sex work is often advertised online or operates in an online environment.

They also fail to recognise that many people now work in the gig economy, Patten said. “It’s not about legal or illegal brothels,” she told reporters on Wednesday. “But certainly the legislation, because it is so outdated, has made it very difficult for people to actually even comply with the law.”

The Victorian consumer affairs minister, Marlene Kairouz, said the review was aimed at keeping sex workers safe. Among the matters Patten will consider are massage parlours offering sex work services. Read more via Guardian