Find out more about cookies and your privacy in our policy. Let's talk about sex. Whether you're having it or just thinking about it, you've probably got a lot of questions. Am I ready for sex? Will it hurt? How do I talk to my partner about it? Do I share information about past sexual relationships? And so on….

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Prostitution in Australia Sex work in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably. Federal legislation also affects some aspects of sex work throughout Australia, and of Australian citizens abroad. Legal responses of the nine jurisdictions of Australia to prostitution have differed. Some of the differences have been due to political factors. Eastern Australian states and territories liberalised their laws in the late 20th century; but liberalisation has been restricted by upper houses of Parliament of several states, with legislation either defeated or extensively amended. New South Wales was the first state or territory to adopt a different model, decriminalising prostitution in
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In general, there are no laws that say when a young person can start dating another person but there are laws about doing sexual activity with another person, which we explain below! However, there are laws which make grooming children under the age of 16 a crime. In Victoria, grooming may occur where an adult over 18 communicates with a young person who is under 16 years old so that they can sexually abuse that young person. These laws can also apply to online relationships. If you are worried about a relationship with an adult including an online relationship , or communications you are receiving, please contact us for free and confidential advice.
Objective: To describe the characteristics of Australian adults' first vaginal intercourse and contraceptive use on that occasion, as well as first oral sex. Method: Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 10, men and 9, women aged years. The overall response rate was Respondents indicated their age at first vaginal intercourse if ever , the partner's age, their relationship to their partner, the duration of the relationship before first intercourse, and what contraception if any was used.