# PRESS RELEASE

**For immediate release, 27 October 2026**

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# MELBOURNE IS AUSTRALIA'S MOST SEXUALLY LIBERAL CITY. SYDNEY COMES TENTH

## A new ranking of Australia's 25 biggest cities scores attitudes, queer life, sex work law, nightlife and abortion law. Brisbane and Gold Coast complete the top three. Albury-Wodonga comes last.

Which Australian city is the most sexually liberal? Erobella's Data & Research team set out to answer it with numbers.

**Most Sexually Liberal Cities in Australia 2026** scores the country's 25 biggest urban areas, from Sydney down to Coffs Harbour, on ten measures. They cover how each city voted on same-sex marriage, how many people have no religion, its Pride events and queer bars, the sex work law it lives under, its adult shops, strip clubs and nude beaches, and how late in a pregnancy you can get an abortion on request. The full ranking, with a night-time map and a breakdown of every score, is at [erobella.com/research/sexually-liberal-cities-australia](https://erobella.com/research/sexually-liberal-cities-australia/).

**Melbourne comes first with 75.2 out of 100**, ahead of Brisbane (73.8) and Gold Coast (71.0). It leads on queer life. Its weak spot is attitudes, where it ranks 18th.

## Key findings

- **Melbourne is first, Brisbane second and Gold Coast third.** Canberra and Cairns complete the top five.
- **Three of the top five are in Queensland**, which decriminalised sex work in August 2024 and protects sex workers in its anti-discrimination law.
- **Sydney is tenth.** It tops the after-dark part of the index, with 28 adult shops and 13 strip, swingers and kink clubs, and it has Mardi Gras. But only 53.5% of Sydney voted Yes to same-sex marriage in 2017, the second lowest of the 25, and 32% have no religion, the lowest of all. It scores 2.7 out of 25 on attitudes.
- **Albury-Wodonga is last.** We found no Pride event, no queer bar, one adult shop, no strip or swingers club and no nude beach nearby. Toowoomba, the only city where most people voted No to same-sex marriage in 2017 (49.2% Yes), is 22nd.
- **Canberra voted Yes hardest** (73.3%). **Hobart** has the highest share of people with no religion (53%) and tops the attitudes part of the index.
- **The law holds Adelaide and Perth back.** Sex work is still largely a crime in South Australia; in Western Australia you can only work alone. Adelaide ranks 11th and Perth 14th.
- **Sex workers in Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT are protected by anti-discrimination law.** In New South Wales, where sex work has been decriminalised since 1995, they still aren't.
- **Of the 25 cities, 21 held a Pride event in 2025 or 2026**, but we found dedicated queer bars or clubs in only 8. Melbourne has 7, Sydney 6 and Brisbane 4.
- **Nine cities have a legal nude beach within 50 km of the centre.** None is in Queensland or Tasmania, which have no legal nude beaches.
- **Cairns has the most sex worker listings per head** on Erobella: 82 per 100,000 people.
- **Tasmania has Australia's strictest abortion time limit**, 16 weeks on request. Victoria and the NT allow 24 weeks, and the ACT sets no limit in law.

## The full ranking

| Rank | City | State | Score /100 | Attitudes /25 | Queer life /20 | Sex work /25 | After dark /20 | Abortion law /10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | VIC | 75.2 | 13.2 | 20.0 | 17.6 | 14.3 | 10.0 |
| 2 | Brisbane | QLD | 73.8 | 15.5 | 17.8 | 19.8 | 11.6 | 9.2 |
| 3 | Gold Coast | QLD | 71.0 | 15.9 | 13.2 | 21.7 | 11.1 | 9.2 |
| 4 | Canberra | ACT | 70.3 | 21.6 | 14.2 | 13.3 | 11.2 | 10.0 |
| 5 | Cairns | QLD | 69.5 | 15.6 | 10.0 | 25.0 | 9.7 | 9.2 |
| 6 | Darwin | NT | 67.8 | 16.2 | 7.5 | 20.2 | 13.8 | 10.0 |
| 7 | Newcastle | NSW | 63.0 | 18.4 | 13.2 | 13.7 | 8.6 | 9.2 |
| 8 | Ballarat | VIC | 62.8 | 22.3 | 11.8 | 16.0 | 2.7 | 10.0 |
| 9 | Geelong | VIC | 62.5 | 20.4 | 6.8 | 15.0 | 10.3 | 10.0 |
| 10 | Sydney | NSW | 61.9 | 2.7 | 19.5 | 15.6 | 15.0 | 9.2 |
| 11 | Adelaide | SA | 59.9 | 16.7 | 13.2 | 6.4 | 14.1 | 9.5 |
| 12 | Sunshine Coast | QLD | 58.8 | 16.8 | 7.5 | 17.1 | 8.2 | 9.2 |
| 13 | Central Coast | NSW | 58.5 | 15.4 | 10.7 | 12.2 | 11.1 | 9.2 |
| 14 | Perth | WA | 57.9 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 8.1 | 10.2 | 9.6 |
| 15 | Hobart | TAS | 57.7 | 23.0 | 11.8 | 8.5 | 7.7 | 6.7 |
| 16 | Townsville | QLD | 57.2 | 12.2 | 7.5 | 19.4 | 8.8 | 9.2 |
| 17 | Bendigo | VIC | 56.5 | 20.9 | 7.5 | 15.2 | 2.9 | 10.0 |
| 18 | Wollongong | NSW | 55.9 | 13.4 | 10.7 | 13.0 | 9.7 | 9.2 |
| 19 | Rockhampton | QLD | 46.7 | 7.0 | 0.0 | 20.8 | 9.7 | 9.2 |
| 20 | Mackay | QLD | 46.6 | 8.3 | 5.0 | 20.8 | 3.3 | 9.2 |
| 21 | Coffs Harbour | NSW | 44.3 | 12.8 | 5.0 | 15.3 | 2.0 | 9.2 |
| 22 | Toowoomba | QLD | 42.2 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 21.7 | 9.9 | 9.2 |
| 23 | Bunbury | WA | 40.8 | 18.4 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 9.6 |
| 24 | Launceston | TAS | 39.9 | 16.8 | 0.0 | 8.7 | 7.7 | 6.7 |
| 25 | Albury-Wodonga | NSW | 36.6 | 12.0 | 0.0 | 12.4 | 3.0 | 9.2 |

*Each city is an ABS Significant Urban Area, suburbs included. Gold Coast includes Tweed Heads, Canberra includes Queanbeyan and Newcastle includes Maitland. Every score is broken down at [erobella.com/research/sexually-liberal-cities-australia](https://erobella.com/research/sexually-liberal-cities-australia/).*

## Sex work law by state and territory

| State or territory | Sex work | Sex workers protected from discrimination | Abortion on request |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Decriminalised | No | On request to 22 weeks |
| VIC | Decriminalised | Yes | On request to 24 weeks |
| QLD | Decriminalised | Yes | On request to 22 weeks |
| WA | Partly criminalised (working alone only) | No | On request to 23 weeks |
| SA | Criminalised | No | On request to 22 weeks 6 days |
| TAS | Partly criminalised (one or two self-employed workers only) | Partly protected (lawful sex work only) | On request to 16 weeks |
| ACT | Legal with licensing and registration | Yes | No gestational limit in law |
| NT | Decriminalised | Yes | On request to 24 weeks |

*Law as in force on 26 October 2026.*

## Comment

Brenda Jensen, Head of Data & Research at Erobella, said:

> "People assume Sydney is the country’s party town, and on Oxford Street it is. But a city is more than its best postcode. Melbourne has the scene, the law and the attitudes all pulling in the same direction. The bigger story is the law. A sex worker in Brisbane has protections a sex worker in Adelaide or Perth still doesn’t.
>
> "Sydney's result will surprise people. The inner city is as liberal as anywhere in the country, but Sydney is a huge place, and across the whole city fewer people voted Yes in 2017 than almost anywhere else we looked. Melbourne doesn't have that gap.
>
> "We only counted venues we could show were open this year or last, so the counts are a floor. If we've missed a bar, a shop or a club, we want to hear about it, and we'll update the ranking."

## Notes to editors

1. **The cities.** The 25 biggest ABS Significant Urban Areas (ASGS 2021) by 2021 Census population, from Sydney to Coffs Harbour. Populations are ABS estimated resident population at 30 June 2025 (Regional population, 2024-25). Where an urban area crosses a state border, state law follows the side where most people live.
2. **The score.** Ten measures in five parts, 100 points in all:
   - **Attitudes, 25:** Yes vote in the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey (15), matched from federal divisions to each city by population; share with no religion in the 2021 Census (10).
   - **Queer life, 20:** the biggest Pride event held in the city in 2025 or 2026 (10); dedicated LGBTQ+ bars and clubs, plus regular queer club nights (10).
   - **Sex work, 25:** state or territory sex work law and anti-discrimination protection (15); live listings on erobella.com/au per 100,000 people on 26 October 2026 (10).
   - **After dark, 20:** adult shops (8) and strip, swingers and kink clubs (7), each scored half on numbers per 100,000 people and half on the total; a legal nude beach within 50 km of the city centre (5, or 2 for a tolerated one).
   - **Abortion law, 10:** weeks of pregnancy at which abortion is available on request.
   Measured numbers are scaled from the lowest city (0) to the highest (full points). The method is set out in full on the page.
3. **Venues.** Shops, clubs and bars count only with evidence they were trading in 2025 or 2026 (current opening hours, recent posts or reviews, chain store locators). Brothels and saunas are not counted. Adelaide's strip club count uses the six reported by InDaily on 20 August 2026. Counts are a floor, not a census.
4. **Erobella data.** Listings are live published profiles on erobella.com/au on 26 October 2026, placed in a city by map location. Only city totals are published.
5. **Sources.** ABS (Marriage Law Postal Survey 2017, Census 2021, Regional population 2024-25, ASGS 2021); state and territory legislation; NSW Local Government Act 1993 s633, Nudity (Prescribed Areas) Act 1983 (Vic), ACT Parks and NT Parks for nude beaches; Pride organisers, Star Observer and QNews; chain store locators, venue websites and OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
6. **What's not included.** Census counts of same-sex couples by city aren't in the ABS's free tables, so they're not used. 2026 Census results will be released from mid-2027.
7. **The worldwide ranking.** Erobella's ranking of the world's most sexually liberal cities is at [erobella.com/creative/liberal-cities-2026](https://erobella.com/creative/liberal-cities-2026/).
8. **Data and reuse.** The full dataset is free to download as CSV from the page. Findings, tables and charts are free to publish with a credit to **Erobella** and, online, a link to [erobella.com/research/sexually-liberal-cities-australia](https://erobella.com/research/sexually-liberal-cities-australia/).
9. **Corrections.** Venues and councils can send corrections, with a link that shows it, to dara@erobella.com.
10. **About Erobella.** Erobella is the UK's fastest growing escorting website and a progressive brand. Its Data & Research team publishes original studies, including its annual survey of sex-worker wellbeing, the Liberal Cities Index ([erobella.com/creative/liberal-cities-2026](https://erobella.com/creative/liberal-cities-2026/)), Out on Campus ([erobella.com/research/out-on-campus](https://erobella.com/research/out-on-campus/)) and the Sex Work Statistics series ([erobella.com/research/sex-work-statistics](https://erobella.com/research/sex-work-statistics/)). All are free to read at [erobella.com/research](https://erobella.com/research/).

**Press contact:** Dara Weston, PR Manager, Erobella: [dara@erobella.com](mailto:dara@erobella.com)

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*ENDS*