If you look beyond the gentrification, St Kilda is one of the most notorious prostitution hot spots in all of Melbourne.
Located just a few kilometers south east of CBD, it is home to the Melbourne red light district and a constant source of public debate.
In this guide, we’ll look at what it is about St Kilda that pulls in sex workers and clients. We’ll look at the hot spots of local prostitution, some notorious roads, typical prices paid, and nearby legal licensed venues where you can pay for sex that is considerably safer.
Before going any further, a reminder: soliciting for sex on the street is illegal.
Even if you are not looking for sex, it’s still not a good idea to be driving around the St Kilda area in the early hours.
We’ve heard from Uber taxi drivers who’ve run in to trouble with the law having not been able to find their fares. It turns out cruising the road slowly, especially more than once, will draw plenty of unwanted attention.
St Kilda Prostitutes
While brothels, escort agencies and prostitution are all legal in Melbourne; crawling the streets and soliciting for sex is illegal.
As anybody who has ever taken a walk down Grey Street in the early hours can attest, this has not put any dampener on the St Kilda prostitution scene.
In this suburb, you can find hookers from nightfall all the way through to the earliest hours of a Monday morning commute.
The period of 3am to 5am is notoriously productive for Kilda prostitutes.
Drive past and you will find a smattering of women hugging coats tight, tottering in heels and staring straight down the street. Waiting for the next client.
A report by The Age suggests that the St Kilda area has around 40 regular sex workers on the streets. Many of these ladies have the baggage of $500-a-day heroin habits, adding to a vicious spiral of prostitution and further drug addiction.
If you are ballsy enough to go searching for street hookers in this part of town, don’t be surprised if you get stopped by the cops.
The police are waging an endless battle on street prostitution in St Kilda. And while they’ve certainly had some success, they haven’t cleaned up the area sufficiently to stop punters from chancing their luck. Many simply aren’t deterred by the red light district ‘ban’ that comes with getting pulled over.
Punters suspected of soliciting for sex will be banned from the area for up to 72 hours: that includes Blessington, Carlisle, Inkerman, Greeves, Grey, Barkly, Vale and parts of St Kilda Road.
Breaching a ban order results in an on-the-spot fine of $230+, or $2300+ if you are so determined as to get yourself prosecuted in court.
The Red Light District of Grey Street and Greeves Street
The beating heart of Melbourne’s red light district remains the south-eastern suburbs — Grey Street and Greeves Street, in particular.
The corner of Dalgety Street is aptly named “Hooker’s Corner”; and given the local reputation, you’d be a fool to loiter in this area for long.
Part of the problem of St Kilda’s sex scene is that street prostitution attracts drug problems, violence and crime.
These sex workers will accept as little as $20 for a blowjob, or $50 for a quickie. Even less if business is quiet and they have an addiction to feed.
It is a sordid place to be paying for sex.
Fortunately there are a few legal and licensed locations dotted around St Kilda where you can pay for your thrills with a much greater degree of safety, privacy and comfort.
Erotic Massage in St Kilda
The type of bloke who goes gutter crawling is probably not the same as the client who stops for a 2 hour oil-laden body slide, but in case you hadn’t heard, erotic massage is big business around town!
There are a number of Asian massage parlours where you can take advantage of a discreet bodyrub.
Prices start at around $100 to $120 for an hour long rub with a happy ending.
Some massage parlors double up as makeshift brothels.
Needless to say, they won’t advertise this on the front door. But a couple of ‘accidental’ touches followed by the correct response can reveal a whole new menu that goes beyond your traditional handjob happy ending.
Top Local Brothels & Escort Agencies
A step up from an erotic massage is one of Melbourne’s licensed brothels.
The top brothel in the St Kilda area is California Club, which we featured a few weeks ago.
This is not your typical hole-in-the-wall, pimp-watching-over-a-shoulder establishment.
California Club is closer to a luxury hotel experience. It has over 40 stunning escorts on its roster, all of which are considerably higher quality than the type of women you will find crawling the streets around Greys and Greeves.
It is located at: 30 St Kilda Rd, St Kilda VIC 3182
You can get to California Club by tram:
Tram Stop 30: St Kilda Junction/St Kilda Rd
Tram Stop 131: St Kilda Rd/Fitzroy St
Or by bus:
Take the 246: Elsternwick to Clifton Hill via St Kilda Stop (ID no. 1112)
Or… simply park up before or after work.
(They have an undercover car park.)
Dotted around St Kilda you will find a number of ‘unofficial’ and unlicensed brothels. These are frequented by the prostitutes working the streets, and often set up by pimps and gangs.
Use these strictly at your own peril.
We think it’s pretty foolish to take a chance on the St Kilda street prostitution scene when there are so many safer ways to buy sex in Melbourne.
Have you dabbled in the night time entertainment around St Kilda? What are your thoughts and experiences?
Let us know below.