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The Melbourne International Comedy Festival will look to pay tribute to Barry Humphries, but is standing by its decision to rebadge the entertainment legend's namesake award.

Humphries died on Saturday at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney following complications from hip surgery stemming from a fall earlier this year. He was 89.

Since his death, friends including collaborator Bruce Beresford and British-Australian entertainer Miriam Margolyes labelled the festival a disgrace for not properly celebrating the feted performer, who helped start the annual event.

The festival joined the chorus of local tributes to the revered comic but did not organise an official tribute for the final day.

Humphries delighted and outraged audiences for more than half a century and was a founding patron of the festival, leading to it name its annual prize for most outstanding act after him in 2000.

But an outcry over a series of comments widely seen as transphobic prompted the renaming of the festival's top gong in 2019.

Festival director Susan Provan on Monday stood by the decision.

"In 2019 we did change the name of our top award from the Barry to the Most Outstanding show - this was in response to transphobic comments he made publicly that lacked empathy and baffled many in our industry. We did not 'cancel' him," she said.

The award for most outstanding show was renamed to reinforce the equality and diversity the festival community has always championed, Ms Provan said, and some of the values Humphries espoused in later years did not reflect more contemporary industry values.

"Yesterday was the final day of our 26-day festival. We were extremely saddened to learn of the passing of Barry Humphries on Saturday night, but with over 300 shows to stage on Sunday the show had to go on," Ms Provan said.

"We acknowledge that he deserves an appropriate tribute, we will now take time to consider what that might be."

Film director Beresford told ABC Radio Melbourne stripping his friend's name from the festival award was offensive and insulting.

"It's a disgrace what they've done, I mean he's one of the greatest comic geniuses ever," he said on Monday.

"Barry was in many ways a social commentator - he was really commenting and giving a view on incidents in the world around him, which is what he'd been doing all his life, but ... I don't think he was malevolent or malicious."

Margolyes called on festival organisers to "sharpen up".

"How dare they. He had more talent in his little finger than they did in their whole bodies - all of them. I'm outraged by it and I want to speak up now to support him. It's not about transgender (issues)," she told ABC TV.

Margolyes said she didn't agree with her friend's politics - a fact she told him to his face - but she still appreciated Humphries as "the greatest comic who ever lived".

"I didn't like his politics. I really didn't. But I revere the talent of the man," she said.

"It was coruscating; it was all-enveloping. And if people can't see that, they need something shoved up their bum."

Irish comedian Dylan Moran paid tribute to Humphries in front of a packed audience on Sunday night.

The comments come as the family of the Melbourne-born comedy legend discuss the possibility of a state funeral with the Victorian government.

Creative Industries Minister Steve Dimopoulos said talks were under way with the entertainer's loved ones about the best ways to honour his legacy.

A range of options are on the table, including a state funeral.

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A sex work sector that protects more workers from exploitation and violence is expected to be at the centre of a Queensland government response to a major review of the industry.

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman wants sex work brought "out of the dark" through a properly regulated industry that prioritises the safety of workers.

"Current laws stigmatise sex workers, it increases their vulnerability to exploitation and violence," Ms Fentiman told Seven News Brisbane on Sunday night.

There are currently two legal forms of regulated sex work in Queensland: services provided in a licensed brothel, not including outcalls from the premises; and those provided by sole operators in-house or as outcalls.

Any other form of sex work is illegal including services provided by escort agencies, unlicensed brothels, massage parlours and two or more sex workers operating from a single premises.

The state has 20 licensed brothels and most sex work occurs outside the regulated or licensed sector.

The attorney-general asked the Queensland Law Reform Commission to review and investigate the regulation of a new framework for the industry in August 2021.

"Decriminalising sex work will mean sex work is no longer a crime. But it does not mean no regulations or safeguards," the commission said in a review updated in November.

"People in the sex work industry will have protections and obligations under standard workplace, health, planning and other existing general laws."

Some 160 submissions have been received, with input from individual sex workers, brothel managers, clients and advocacy organisations.

More information on the state government plan will be released on Monday.

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The family of Melbourne-born comedy legend Barry Humphries is in discussions with the Victorian government about the possibility of a state funeral.

Humphries died on Saturday at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney following complications from hip surgery stemming from a fall earlier this year.

He was 89.

Creative Industries Minister Steve Dimopoulos said talks are under way with the entertainer's loved ones about the best ways to honour his legacy.

A range of options are on the table including a state funeral.

"The primary mover of these things is the family because it's their gift effectively to decide in conversation with government," Mr Dimopoulos said on Sunday.

Premier Daniel Andrews said Humphries would live on through his iconic writing and larger-than-life characters, particularly Dame Edna Everage who put the Melbourne suburb of Moonee Ponds on the map.

"But at the end of the day, he was a boy from Kew with big dreams. And he achieved them," he posted on Twitter.

NSW Premier Chris Minns says Humphries popularised Australian larrikinism on the world stage but he doesn't want to "front run" any potential Sydney-based state funeral.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival joined the chorus of local tributes to the revered comic despite its chequered history with the late star.

Humphries delighted and outraged audiences for more than half a century and was a founding patron of the festival, leading to it naming its annual prize for most outstanding act after him in 2000.

But an outcry over a series of comments widely seen as transphobic prompted the festival to rename its top gong in 2019.

The MICF said on Sunday it was saddened to hear of Humphries' passing and hailed his contribution to the festival during its formative years.

Despite Humphries' name being stripped from the award and no formal tribute on the final night of the 2023 festival, MICF director Susan Provan said "nothing can ever detract" from his contribution as an artist.

"Barry made an extraordinary contribution to Australian comedy," she said.

British-Australian entertainer Miriam Margolyes said the way Humphries was treated in Australia was a "disgrace" and called on festival organisers to "sharpen up".

"I don't think he was properly appreciated, particularly by the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, who cancelled him rather late in life," she told ABC TV.

"How dare they. He had more talent in his little finger than they did in their whole bodies - all of them. I'm outraged by it and I want to speak up now to support him. It's not about transgender (issues)."

Ms Margolyes didn't agree with her friend's politics and told him to his face but appreciated Humphries as "the greatest comic who ever lived".

"I didn't like his politics. I really didn't. But I revere the talent of the man," she said.

"It was coruscating; it was all enveloping. And if people can't see that they need something shoved up their bum."

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Ben King's five-goal haul was inevitable if you ask Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew, who witnessed his key forward discover top gear during a year on the sidelines.

King didn't miss in Sunday's 43-point defeat of North Melbourne, five marks and five goals a sight for sore eyes after missing all of last season with a ruptured ACL.

Three weeks ago he spilt four simple marks against Geelong but kept battling in a stunning upset of the reigning premiers.

On Sunday at Heritage Bank Stadium those grabs stuck and he got the reward.

"It has been building. Output's everything and the easiest, most obvious, on show to go to," Dew said.

"We're not surprised though, he's continued to present and even when he didn't mark he got others in the game."

King proved too tricky to handle as the Suns bombed inside 50 at will in the first half, his second and third efforts to lead often leaving him wide open.

Dew said the fit-again talent had worked hard during his rehabilitation and returned a better athlete.

"Kingy had a fantastic rehab in terms of finding out how hard he can work physically," he said.

"I reckon he's just starting to work out how to put that into games."

Victory arrested a two-game slide and took some heat off after a frustrating loss to Fremantle.

"We were a little bit better, more composed," Dew said.

"We're starting to see some passages of play. We've been training hard.

"And the faith we've had in that group, even though we lost last week, those guys repaid that.

"Execution at times let us down but if we can see the method and intent we can work on the execution.

"You'd rather be kicking them, but we can see the guys doing the work."

© AAP 2023