Matthew Roberts has been an advocate for sex workers’ rights in Australia since 2015. He has a Diploma in Legal Services, with experience in policy development and law reform. Working with other sex workers, his seven-year successful law reform campaign resulted in Victoria becoming the fourth jurisdiction in the world to decriminalise sex work in 2022. 

He was instrumental in reforming anti-discrimination laws, council planning scheme laws  and sexual consent laws helping provide sex workers with equal protections under the law in the Australian state of Victoria. In 2023 he settled a landmark financial discrimination lawsuit, causing two financial service providers to end their blanket ban on sex workers.

He has been a gay male sex worker in Victoria since 2012, also acting as an independent sex workers’ rights advocate. He consults and liaises with a wide range of stakeholders in the debate over sex workers’ rights. He is not affiliated with any sex worker organisations.