MP Gareth Ward has been suspended from the NSW Parliament while he faces indecent and sexual assault charges.
The suspension will remain in place until criminal proceedings against him are finalised.
The government moved the suspension motion in the lower house, after the Member for Kiama refused to resign.
The motion passed without opposition.
The independent MP is facing three counts of indecent assault, one count of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of common assault.
Police allege he indecently assaulted a 17-year-old boy in Meroo Meadow, in his Kiama electorate in 2013 and sexually assaulted a 27-year-old man in Sydney in 2015.
Mr Ward says he is innocent of the charges.
Mr Ward has also been banned from visiting any schools in his south coast electorate while he is under suspension.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the ban was necessary because of the seriousness of the allegations against him.
In a statement issued late on Thursday, Mr Ward said he was "extremely disappointed" with the vote to suspend him.
He acknowledged that the suspension meant he would be unable "to speak and vote in parliament" but he vowed to continue to work for his constituents.
"I will, however continue to represent and lobby for my local community as its democratically elected member of parliament," he said.
"As challenging a time as this is for me personally, I have an important job to do and I intend to get on with it."
While Labor supported the suspension motion in parliament, it was highly critical of the Premier Dominic Perrottet's handling of the situation.
The Opposition's manager of business in the lower house, Ron Hoenig, took issue with a statement released by the Premier shortly after Mr Ward was charged.
In the statement, the Premier called on the Member for Kiama to resign and threatened that if he didn't "the Government will move a motion to remove him from the parliament ".
Labor said that implied that the government planned to expel the MP from the parliament.
"You would have known that there was no power to expel from this house the member for Kiama unless the Premier had some material where the house could judge the member for Kiama to be guilty of unworthy conduct," Mr Hoenig told the parliament.
After the statement was issued,the Premier sought legal advice and government lawyers advised against expelling Mr Ward.
"I consider that there is significant risk of a temporary or permanent stay of criminal proceedings where the expulsion power is exercised," the advice from Kate Boyd, General Counsel for the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet read.
"This is because the valid exercise of the expulsion power would require the Legislative Assembly to take action that assumes or infers the guilt of the Member of the offence charged."
The legal advice stated that the risk of impacting criminal proceedings by suspending Mr Ward was "very low".
The government has also sought legal advice about stopping the payment of Mr Ward's salary and entitlements while he is suspended.
Acting Premier Paul Toole said the government was awaiting that advice.
"The actions we've taken this week as a government are decisive," Mr Toole said.
"We will continue to take decisive action in relation to looking at his salary, his remuneration and entitlements."
Mr Hoenig said "there's not much point getting legal advice".
"I'll give it to the Acting Premier now," Mr Hoenig said.
"You can't take away his salary unless you legislate… and if that's what you're considering where's your bill?"
Mr Ward's suspension leaves people living in the electorate of Kiama without representation in the parliament.
The government said it was looking into appointing another MP to oversee the electorate in Mr Ward's absence.
Mr Ward resigned from his cabinet position and moved to the crossbench last May when it was revealed he was under police investigation.
