NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Queenstown and Wānaka brothel zones could be extended, prompts call for better sex worker safety

Ben Tomsett
By Ben Tomsett
Multimedia Journalist - Dunedin, NZ Herald·NZ Herald·
12 May, 2024 06:25 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Israel issues evacuation warning to tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians in Rafah. Aurora Australis stuns over New Zealand skies. Video / NZ Herald

Two of New Zealand’s most luxurious getaway locations could soon have extended brothel zones.

Proposed brothel bylaw revisions in Queenstown and Wānaka, which would see the areas where certified brothels could operate expanded, have prompted a call for greater consideration of sex worker rights.

Submissions to Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) on proposed changes that would widen the area in which brothels are allowed to operate in both Queenstown and Wānaka are currently open.

The move comes as part of a review of the Brothel Control Bylaw 2017.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The current bylaw heavily restricts where a brothel is allowed to operate, including a required 100m distance between brothels and a ban from operating at or below ground level or anywhere outside of the Queenstown and Wānaka CBDs.

Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective spokeswoman Dame Catherine Healy told the Herald that while it was heartening to see QLDC take a more realistic approach to the location of sex-work venues, the preferred option would sadly not do anything to accommodate individual sex workers who “would like to be treated like any other home-based occupation”.

She said it was good to see QLDC following the liberal approach of other councils, but it was not as fast “or appropriate” as the collective would like.

“It’s disappointing, really,” Healy said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“The review is good and there was optimism from our side that the council would finally see the light. But it seems like they’re going through a slight improvement, but not one that’s going to address the deep concern for the individual sex workers who don’t work or can’t afford to work in the commercial zones and want to be self-governing.”

The proposed changes outlined in the draft bylaw focus on several key areas, including redefining allowable locations for brothels, addressing restrictions on brothel signage and seeking community feedback on the proposed amendments.

Amendments include expanding permitted activity areas, introducing a new purpose provision consistent with the PRA and removing certain location restrictions within the permitted areas.

There have been no registered brothels in Queenstown since 2013. Photo / 123rf
There have been no registered brothels in Queenstown since 2013. Photo / 123rf

“Most sex workers actually manage their own sex work these days ... To do that, they really need the option to work in residential areas from their own homes. To take that option away, or not even provide it as an option, that really undermines their safety ... They’ll do it without a sense of being protected by the bylaw,” said Healy.

She said she had heard from several sex workers in the Queenstown area who would like to submit in the consultation but were concerned about entering the public eye.

Sex work has been a legal occupation in New Zealand for two decades under the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 (PRA), which is subject to the same laws that regulate other businesses and workers but with additional requirements aimed at protecting sex workers and their clients.

Under the PRA, there are provisions that local councils may either manage a brothel using the District Plan or adopt a bylaw to manage a brothel’s signs and/or manage the location of a brothel, with QLDC being one of seven councils that regulate the location of brothels through a bylaw.

Brothel operators, apart from small owner-operated brothels (SOOBs), are required under the PRA to hold a valid brothel operator certificate issued via the Ministry of Justice. Police may inspect brothels to ensure compliance with the PRA’s welfare requirements and certificates must be renewed every year.

Dame Catherine Healy said the proposed changes do not go far enough. Photo / Rebekah Parsons-King, RNZ
Dame Catherine Healy said the proposed changes do not go far enough. Photo / Rebekah Parsons-King, RNZ

QLDC councillor Lyal Cocks said brothels were essentially small businesses and believed they should be treated as such.

He opposed the decision to renew the bylaw, saying he would prefer to see brothels managed through the district plan.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Cocks said this was based on the fact there were no registered brothels in the QLDC area since 2013.

“You get all the debate about what area they can and can’t be in when it’s all quite clearly laid out in the district plan ... They are small businesses, being treated differently to other small businesses who can also create disturbances or nuisances.”

QLDC councillor Lisa Guy said she would prefer a cautious approach, putting focus on the identification of sensitive areas, and encouraged further national investigation into the operation of SOOBs and the impact that has had on the industry since the reform of legislation.

“I am not opposed to SOOBs, but I am weary of the unintended consequences of extending the zones where there they can be established into areas which are currently green field sites,” she said.

“With our local high turnover of travelling young people, there may be coercion to join a SOOB, with scouts targeting rangatahi to work, with examples of this happening through meetings in social, casual settings, such as interactions in night clubs, with the promise of easy cash and limits to what they will be required to do.”

She said she had little faith that all SOOBs were owner-operated with full control over their earnings without undue external influence.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“Anecdotally there is evidence to the contrary,” she said.

In a submission to the council, Te Whatu Ora Health NZ said it did not support the current approach of limiting where brothels could operate.

“We believe this puts prostitution at risk of operating outside the law and in doing so gives rise to serious health and safety risks ... We would support a permissive approach that has exclusions for sensitive areas or situations that have the potential to give rise to nuisance.”

Two business owners in the proposed zone in Wānaka said they were not concerned about the potential extension, saying they did not expect the decision to affect their business.

The consultation period is open from May 3, 2024, until June 5, 2024. The council’s decision regarding the draft bylaw is expected in August 2024 after all submissions have been seen.

Ben Tomsett is a Multimedia Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand
|Updated

'A fire that made you believe in goodness': Crash victim remembered for 'elegance'

New Zealand

Fire hits block of flats in South Waikato

New Zealand

'I jumped as much as the house': 3.8 quake rattles Whanganui


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'A fire that made you believe in goodness': Crash victim remembered for 'elegance'
New Zealand
|Updated

'A fire that made you believe in goodness': Crash victim remembered for 'elegance'

Joni Tuhakaraina, 53, died a day after celebrating her 32nd wedding anniversary.

07 Aug 05:45 AM
Fire hits block of flats in South Waikato
New Zealand

Fire hits block of flats in South Waikato

07 Aug 05:38 AM
'I jumped as much as the house': 3.8 quake rattles Whanganui
New Zealand

'I jumped as much as the house': 3.8 quake rattles Whanganui

07 Aug 05:13 AM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP