A full debate on prostitution law reform in South Australia should be held ahead of the next state election, Opposition Leader Steven Marshall says.
A bill to decriminalise sex work in SA passed parliament's upper house early on Thursday.
It will now come before the lower house where all MPs will be granted a conscience vote.
Questions have been raised as to whether the parliament will be keen to address the controversial issue ahead of the election in March, but Mr Marshall sees no reason for a delay.
"If there's an opportunity to debate legitimate reform, the Liberal Party will be all for it," he told reporters.
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"This is something that has loosely been on the agenda for more than a decade.
"We lag behind other states and it's time for us to consider this carefully."
The private members' bill was introduced by Liberal MP Michelle Lensink and passed the upper house 13 votes to eight.
Ms Lensink said it would decriminalise all forms of prostitution, but coercion, detaining women against their will, or children working in the industry, would remain illegal.
The Australian Christian Lobby said the vote on Thursday was disappointing.
"It casts aside evidence from Victoria and Queensland that show illegal sex trade and trafficking has continued unabated after those states decriminalised prostitution," SA director Christopher Brohier said.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said he was generally supportive of reform but was yet to read the full bill.
He wasn't sure if MPs would "have an appetite" to deal with it before the March election.
