Sex Workers Outreach Project Inc; SWOP

SWOP is Australia’s largest and longest established community based sex worker organisation focused on HIV, STI and Hepatitis C prevention, education and health promotion for sex workers in NSW. A key element in the success of SWOP’s work is the building of strategic, collaborative and multidisciplinary working relationships with sex workers, other key health, government and non-government organisations, and advocating for an equitable and holistic approach to services provided to sex workers. SWOP was established in 1990 after the Australia Prostitutes Collective which had been established in 1983 ceased operation. Since 1990 SWOP has been funded by the NSW Ministry of Health (NSW Health) to provide sexual health information and support to sex workers in NSW, specifically in relation to HIV and other sexually transmissible infections. Throughout this period, governance had been managed by ACON, the peak NSW HIV/STI health promotion/prevention NGO. On 01 July, 2014 SWOP began operating independently, as a stand‐alone organisation with it's own membership base and governing board. NSW can be proud that there has been no recorded case of HIV transmission from sex worker to client, and lower rates of STIs among female sex workers compared to women in the non sex working population. This success has been made possible, in large part, through the decriminalisation of the NSW sex industry, allowing sex workers access to vital services and support, and enabling SWOP to access the majority of sex services premises throughout NSW.