Anyone moving from Vienna, Salzburg, or Burgenland to Styria usually looks for something on the first day that doesn’t exist here: a counter where you register yourself personally as a sex worker. In Styria, this counter doesn’t exist. The Styrian Prostitution Act doesn’t require sex workers to register personally with a police authority. Instead, it distributes the tasks among three completely different agencies — and one of them registers you without you having to be present.
This sounds like a detail for lawyers. In practice, it determines who you call when something goes wrong, who has your data, and whose mistake costs you money.
A Law from 1997, Last Amended in 2024 and 2025
The foundation is the Act of 25 November 1997 concerning prostitution in the state of Styria, promulgated as LGBl. No. 16/1998. It has been amended several times since, most recently by LGBl. No. 97/2024 and LGBl. No. 68/2025. The 2024 amendment addressed, among other things, provisions on prohibitions, operator obligations, and penalties; the 2025 amendment brought mainly formal and linguistic adjustments, such as the provision on gender-appropriate designations in § 16c.
According to § 1, the law applies to the practice of prostitution and to its procurement insofar as it appears publicly. § 2 distinguishes two types of operations that are often used synonymously in everyday language but are not legally the same: A brothel is a business in which prostitution is intended to be practiced. A brothel-like establishment is a business in which only procurement takes place. Both are subject to licensing rules — for the second, accordingly (§ 4 para. 2).
Three Authorities, Three Areas of Responsibility
The Municipality Enforces the Law
§ 12 para. 1 is the sentence that sets Styria apart from other federal states: The law must be enforced — with the exception of §§ 14 and 15 — by the municipality in its own sphere of responsibility. Not by the state, not by the district authority, not by the police. The application for a brothel license is submitted in writing to the mayor of the municipality where the business is to be located; in Graz, to the city magistrate.
This means: what is permitted in your business also depends on what this one municipality has regulated. § 13 para. 1 allows the municipality to issue regulations through an ordinance specifying details about business operations — about the arrangement, equipment, and cleanliness of rooms, about emergency signals, emergency lighting, fire protection, and operating hours. Two houses in two neighboring municipalities can therefore have different curfews and different requirements, even though both are under the same state law. If you’re interested in operating hours, the information from the municipal office is binding, not the information in the house.
The District Administrative Authority Issues the License Card
The control card — in Styria usually called the „cap“ or, in Graz officially, „prostitution permit“ — comes from a different place: from the district administrative authority, that is, the district authority or, in statutory cities, from the magistrate. Health matters fall under the health departments there. The legal basis is not the state law, but a federal regulation: the Regulation on Health Precautions for Persons Providing Sexual Services, BGBl. II No. 198/2015, in force since 1 January 2016.
The Criminal Authority is a Third
Administrative criminal proceedings are conducted by the district administrative authority according to § 12 para. 2 — and in the territory of a municipality for which the state police directorate is also the security authority, by the State Police Directorate Styria. For Graz, this means: the license comes from the magistrate, the permit from the health department, the penalty from the LPD. Before issuing a brothel license, the criminal authority must be consulted, and it must also be notified of the termination and revocation of the license (§ 5 para. 2).
Anyone looking at this and comparing it with the division of responsibilities in Burgenland sees the same basic concept in a different arrangement: health and administrative law run separately. In Styria, the municipal level is added as a third axis.
The Control Card: What’s on it and What it Costs
§ 3 para. 5 Stmk. PG is brief and consequential: The practice of prostitution and its procurement are tied to possession of the permit according to § 10 para. 1 Z 2. Without a valid license card, even mere procurement in a licensed establishment is illegal.
What this permit must certify is also stated in § 10 para. 1 Z 2: that according to the medical examination report you have been found to be free of sexually transmitted diseases, and that according to the examination pursuant to § 4 AIDS Act 1993 there is no HIV infection. The permit bears a photo, must be kept ready during your stay in the brothel, and must be handed over to authorities on demand for verification.
The Intervals
The federal regulation prescribes an initial examination before beginning work and then regular control examinations at intervals of six weeks. At every second appointment — that is, approximately every twelve weeks — a blood test is added to check for HIV, syphilis, and other conditions. After an unremarkable initial examination, the district administrative authority issues the photo identification card and confirms each subsequent control examination in it. If a sexually transmitted disease is found, the authority withdraws the card and returns it only after the infection period has ended.
In Graz, examination, counseling, and issuance are handled by the dermatological examination office of the health department at Dreihackengasse 47, 8020 Graz. At the beginning of your work — and subsequently if needed — medical and social counseling is also included. Outside of Graz, the health department of the respective district authority is the place to go. Opening hours and registration procedures vary locally; a phone call before traveling saves a wasted trip.
The License Card is Free — and This is Not a Favor
The required examinations must be performed by the competent health department free of charge. That this sentence is not just empty talk was proven precisely by Graz: The health department there had been collecting fees for mandatory examinations for around ten years. In 2015, it was determined that these fees should not have been collected. After a lawyer announced legal action on behalf of fifteen clients, a settlement was reached that also applied to other affected people — the city paid back approximately 216,000 euros in total.
The practical lesson from this is simple: if someone charges you money for the mandatory official medical examination, keep the receipt. A claim for which you have a receipt can be recovered; a cash payment without documentation cannot.
„Registration“ Means Here: The Business Reports You
The part that other federal states know as personal registration is handled in Styria by the business. § 10 para. 2 Z 3 requires the holder of a brothel license to notify the authorities in writing:
- within three days at the latest of beginning prostitution or beginning employment: first and last name, date of birth, place of birth, home address, and for foreigners, information about existing residence permission in Austria;
- immediately: any change of name and home address.
The obligation falls on the business operator — not on you. This is convenient and risky at the same time. Convenient because you don’t need an appointment with authorities for registration. Risky because you have no control over whether it was reported correctly, completely, and on time, and because you usually don’t have a confirmation of it in your hands. If you change your address, you should notify the business in writing — a message with a date is worth more than a conversation at the bar in case of dispute.
Additionally, according to § 10 para. 2 Z 2, the business operator must verify the identity of people working in the house and the validity of their permit, and must be personally present during business hours or have an approved authorized representative present (Z 1 in connection with § 9).
Where You’re Allowed to Work — and Where You’re Not
§ 3 para. 2 lists exhaustively where practice is permitted:
- in officially licensed brothels,
- in apartments or rooms of persons who are using the services exclusively for themselves („house calls“) — provided that no children or young people are present there.
According to § 3 para. 3, procurement is permitted in licensed brothel-like establishments, in licensed brothels, and at those locations and times that a municipal council ordinance pursuant to § 13 para. 2 explicitly allows.
The Reverse Conclusion: Your Own Home
§ 3 para. 4 Z 1 prohibits creating opportunities for procurement or practice outside of licensed businesses — explicitly also through paid or unpaid provision of apartments („apartment prostitution“) or buildings. The „own studio in a rental apartment“ model, which in Switzerland would be a building and rental law matter, is here an administrative offense. House calls to clients remain permitted; work in your own apartment does not.
The Three-Year Trap for Street Procurement
§ 13 para. 2 is structured so that street procurement is basically prohibited, unless the municipal council explicitly declares specific locations and times as permitted — in Graz after consultation with the State Police Directorate. Such ordinances are valid for only three years. A zone that existed two years ago can thus silently expire without anything visibly changing on the street. The ordinance must also specify that procurement is not intrusive, does not exceed what is customary for the locality, and does not take place in the immediate vicinity of kindergartens, schools, children’s and youth homes, youth centers, children’s playgrounds and sports facilities, buildings dedicated to religious purposes, hospitals and care facilities, barracks, train stations, and public transport stations.
Whether there is such an ordinance for your location and until when it applies is not a question you settle in the milieu, but a question for the municipal office or the magistrate. Whoever instead relies on „it’s always been done this way here“ risks a penalty under § 15 para. 1 Z 2.
Advertising
§ 3 para. 4 also prohibits any marking or lighting of businesses that constitutes a nuisance to the public, as well as any form of advertising for brothels and brothel-like establishments on posters and advertising surfaces, in radio and television, and in connection with public events. This is one of the stricter advertising rules when compared across federal states and primarily affects the businesses, but directly impacts how visible a house can be at all.
What Violations Cost
§ 15 distinguishes two penalty ranges, and the difference is very concrete for workers:- § 15 Para. 1 No. 1 to 8 – including practicing or initiating without a valid permit (No. 1 in connection with § 3 Para. 5), working outside the approved locations (No. 2), and providing opportunity outside approved establishments, particularly home-based prostitution (No. 3): fine of 500 to 10,000 euros, in case of repetition 1,000 to 20,000 euros. For these offenses, the attempt is also punishable under § 15 Para. 3.
- § 15 Para. 1 No. 9 to 12 – including failure to keep the permit available for inspection (No. 10) and violations of the attendance, inspection, and notification obligations on the operator’s side (No. 11): fine up to 3,000 euros, in case of repetition up to 6,000 euros.
The distinction is worth remembering: not having a valid permit and not having the permit on hand are two different offenses with different penalty ranges. Someone who forgets their card at home is in a different situation than someone whose inspection slip has expired.
An appeal against a penalty decision can be filed with the Regional Administrative Court of Styria. It must be submitted within four weeks of service in writing to the authority that issued the decision and must contain the decision, the authority, a request, and the grounds for the alleged illegality. The deadline is the deadline – whoever misses it loses the case without substantive review.
The Establishment Where You Work Is Part of Your Risk
A brothel permit is only granted under § 5 Para. 3 if personal (§ 6) and substantive requirements (§ 7) are met; the application must generally be subject to an oral hearing with site inspection. The substantive requirements include, among others: no direct line of sight to schools, kindergartens, children’s and youth homes, youth centers, children’s play and sports facilities; no operation on ships, in caravans, motor homes, mobile homes, or tents; a structurally separate entrance if the building is used for other purposes; hygienically adequate sanitary facilities; and safety precautions against dangers to life and health and against fire.
Three points concern you directly:
- The authority must check under § 5 Para. 4 at intervals of no more than three years whether the requirements are still met. A permit from 2019 is not a permanent state.
- A permit expires if operations are not commenced within one year after the decision becomes final or are interrupted for more than six months (§ 8 Para. 1). An establishment that was closed for half a year is not automatically legal again.
- The authority must close a brothel if it is operated without a permit, in deviation from the permit, or repeatedly in violation of § 10 Para. 1 (§ 11 Para. 1). § 10 Para. 1 is precisely the provision requiring that rooms are only made available to persons with a valid permit. Expired permits in the establishment are thus not an individual problem but a threat to the entire operation – which is why reputable establishments ask hard questions here. This is not harassment.
The authority may access the business premises under § 10 Para. 3 to 5, if necessary using force; the same right applies to criminal authorities and public security agencies.
Tax and Social Insurance Run Independently
The permit says nothing about your tax and social insurance status. Anyone in Austria who provides sexual services on a self-employed basis is subject to mandatory insurance with the SVS – usually as a so-called „neue Selbständige“ (new self-employed) – and is liable for income tax. For value-added tax, the small business exemption applies: the threshold has been 55,000 euros annual turnover since January 1, 2025 and applies through 2026, with a tolerance of ten percent, so up to 60,500 euros. If the threshold is exceeded by more than ten percent, the exemption is immediately forfeited.
Important for anyone working on tour: The permit follows federal law and is issued by the district administrative authority – but the state-level rules on registration, permitted locations, and penalties change at every state border. If you move from Styria to Salzburg, you enter a system with its own reporting logic and its own distance rules; this is traced step by step in the Salzburg practical guide. Don’t rely on the Styrian answer being correct elsewhere – and conversely, just as little, as the Burgenland allocation of responsibilities shows.
How Large Is the Scene Actually?
There is no reliable official overall statistics – partly because many people work in an establishment for only a short time and rotate between cities and states. The Styrian specialist counseling center SXA-Info estimates around 700 people in approximately 70 approved establishments in Styria; the vast majority are women, about 90 to 95 percent have a migration background. This order of magnitude is an estimate from practice, not a registry figure – and that is exactly the honest answer.
Where You Can Turn
SXA-Info at the Frauenservice Graz association has existed since 2009 as a specialized counseling service for sex workers in Styria. The team works multilingually, advises by phone, in person, and by email, accompanies you to appointments by agreement, and does outreach social work directly in establishments. Address: Lendplatz 38, 8020 Graz. The center is co-financed by the State of Styria and the City of Graz, among others; counseling is thus independent of the operator side. Office hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings; Wednesday closed – appointments outside these times are possible by agreement.
For binding information, what applies to any state law applies: the municipal office or magistrate is responsible for permits, operating regulations, and initiation zones; the district headquarters or health office for examination and permit; the district headquarters or the State Police Directorate Styria for criminal proceedings. The current law text is available in the Federal Legal Information System.
Quick Check for Your First Day of Work in Styria
- Permit first. Initial examination before starting work, then every six weeks, blood test every twelve weeks. Free. Make an appointment at the Graz Health Office or the Health Department of the responsible district authority.
- Keep your permit in the establishment at all times – not in the car, not in the locker of the last city.
- Check the permit. Ask whether the establishment has a valid brothel permit and when it was last inspected. An establishment without a permit makes your work there unlawful, even if your permit is valid.
- Check the three-day notification. Find out whether and when notification was submitted. Report address changes in writing.
- No home-based prostitution. House visits to clients are fine, but working from your own or a rented apartment is not.
- Street solicitation only with a valid municipal council ordinance – and that expires after three years.
- Keep receipts. For examinations, for rent, for everything an office might need to verify later.
- Appeal deadline is four weeks. Don’t wait with a penalty notice; count the days.
Styria does not require sex workers to have a separate registration with the police – but it does require a valid permit, an approved location, and a municipality that knows you work there. Anyone who has these three things in order works in one of the clearer regulated states. Anyone who leaves one of these to chance depends on another person’s mistake.