Between the years 1979 & 1995 the sex work community of New South Wales fought a long road to decriminalisation, and won. Whores of Yore could not be more delighted to bring you the specifics of that journey, as submitted to us by the exceptionally generous Eurydice Aroney. 

Eurydice Aroney is an academic, activist, and award winning audio documentary producer. She has been recording the stories of sex workers since the the 1980's.  

Her current research is an archival investigation into the role played by New South Wales Sex Workers in their battle for decriminalisation of sex work between the years 1979-1995. She's a member of Australia's peak sex worker Scarlet Alliance and a former member of the Australian Prostitutes Collective New South Wales (NSW)

She has detailed and recorded the experiences of women working in small co-op run ‘parlours’ in East Sydney in the mid 1980’s. Through this timeline we explore their battle with local councils, and the often savage back-lash they endured at the hands of police, frustrated with their perceived loss of power during the law reform period.

Eurydice walks us through the key moments of these brave peoples struggle, as they fought back against the establishment, until finally in 1995 the state of New South Wales was decriminalised.

She is currently researching an archive, establishing the role and extent to which sex workers played a part in the decriminalisation process. We strongly urge you to follow her @eekiemout  or view her work in more detail here 

We also cannot emphasise enough how grateful we are, or how lucky you are, that she and respective associates have shared this information with us. So that said, enjoy! 

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A full link to the timeline can be found here
:http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/754853/-Whore-Laws-of-Yore-How-New-South-Wales-Decriminalised-Sex-Work-1979-1995/​

Academic References Here: 

Egger, Sandra, and Christine Harcourt. "Prostitution in NSW: the impact of deregulation." Women and the law: Proceedings of a conference held. Vol. 24. 1991 available at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.528.6967&rep=rep1&type=pdf
 
Donovan, Basil, et al. "The sex industry in New South Wales: A report to the NSW Ministry of Health." Sydney: Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales (2012).
 
Donovan, Basil, et al. "Improving the health of sex workers in NSW: maintaining success." New South Wales public health bulletin 21.4 (2010): 74-77.
 
Frances, Raelene, and Alicia Gray. "‘UNSATISFACTORY, DISCRIMINATORY, UNJUST AND INVITING CORRUPTION’ Feminists and the Decriminalisation of Street Prostitution in New South Wales." Australian Feminist Studies 22.53 (2007): 307-324.
 
Harcourt, Christine, Sandra Egger, and Basil Donovan. "Sex work and the law." Sexual health 2.3 (2005): 121-128.
 
Jeffreys, Elena, Jane Green, and Christian Vega. "Listen to sex workers: Support decriminalisation and anti-discrimination protections." Interface 3 (2011): 271-287 available at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.679.5738&rep=rep1&type=pdf
 
Morton, Tom, and Eurydice Aroney. "Journalism, Moral Panic and the Public Interest: The case of Sharleen Spiteri." Journalism Practice 10.1 (2016): 18-34.
 
Perkins, Roberta. The Drag Queen Scene: Transexuals in Kings Cross, Allen and Unwin 1983.
 
Perkins, Roberta, and Garry Bennett (eds). Being a prostitute: prostitute women and prostitute men. Routledge, 1985.
 
Prior, Jason, and Penny Crofts. "Effects of sex premises on neighbourhoods: residents, local planning and the geographies of a controversial land use."New Zealand Geographer 68.2 (2012): 130-140.
 
Sullivan, Barbara. "When (some) prostitution is legal: the impact of law reform on sex work in Australia." Journal of law and society 37.1 (2010): 85-104