"The majority of people who are trafficked into the Australian sex industry are in fact migrant sex workers who .... chose to enter Australia for the perception of improved working conditions," Ms Fawkes said.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone's office said sex workers, like fruit pickers, were not eligible for working visas because they offered low-level skills and Australian industries had no demand for them.

"Australia leads the world in best practice around HIV prevention and the major part of that success has been a harm reduction approach where you just ignore the activities that people are undertaking and put their health and safety at the forefront and that's what's important here," Ms Gamble said.

In the last financial year, 290 people were found working illegally in brothels and massage parlours - 20 of them in Victoria, the spokeswomen said.

"I came here on a student visa but eventually got residency. It was very easy for me, which makes me really angry about how unfair it is that it's so hard for people from specific countries.

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