New laws to boost protection for Queensland children

• New legislation mandates child safe standards and introduces a reportable conduct scheme for organisations working with children
• The new laws also simplify blue card requirements and strengthen eligibility assessments to work with children.
• The blue card reforms mean more children will be able to be cared for by their families, supporting their connection to family, kin, community and culture

Queensland’s children and young people are now better protected under measures passed by Parliament today.

Up to 40,000 organisations working with more than one million Queensland children will have to meet new child safe standards under the Child Safe Organisations Bill.

The child safe standards will apply to a range of organisations including schools, early childhood education and care, child protection and youth justice services, health and disability services, arts, and sport and recreation groups.

An integrated child-safe organisations system will be established under the Bill.

It will be made up of 10 new child safe standards and a nationally consistent reportable conduct scheme, which will be implemented by the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC).

QFCC will guide and support organisations to meet their new responsibilities and full implementation is expected by July 2027.

The changes are in response to the thousands of people who shared their experiences of sexual abuse in Queensland institutions with the 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Relevant organisations will also be required to comply with a Universal Principle to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with environments that promote and uphold their right to cultural safety. 

The Queensland Parliament has also passed the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024.

This Bill will put in place the recommendations from two QFCC reports, including removing the requirement for kinship carers and their adult household members to hold a blue card before being approved to care for children who are kin.

This means more children can be cared for by their families, supporting their connection to family, kin, community and culture.

Kinship carers and adult members of their household will still need a blue card while a new, fit-for-purpose screening framework is designed.

The new laws will also enable a blue card to be suspended if there is a risk to a child while an assessment is underway.

Quotes attributable to the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Yvette D’Ath: 

“The safety of our children is an absolute priority for the Miles Government.

“We continue to work closely with other jurisdictions to ensure we do everything we can to strengthen laws and procedures when it comes to protecting children.

“Queensland’s blue card system is one of the strongest in the country and these new laws will help better protect children and sustain trust in the system.

“The new laws also support the implementation of several recommendations from the QFCC report on the blue card review.

“We have prioritised the delivery of these recommendations in consultation with stakeholders and a dedicated implementation group made up of government and non-government agencies.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Child Safety Charis Mullen:

“This legislation will help ensure children are better protected in organisations.

“It means organisations providing services to children must comply with the child safe standards and have appropriate policies in place for child safe environments.

“The child safe standards cover a wide range of diverse organisations, and they are designed to be applied flexibly.

“For example, small grassroots organisations such as local sporting groups will not be expected to implement the child safe standards in the same way as schools or government departments.

“This child safe organisations system will be developed by QFCC, which has demonstrated its commitment to protecting children and will now help thousands of organisations do the same.”

Quotes attributable to Queensland Family and Child Commission principal commissioner Luke Twyford:

“Queensland children deserve every protection from child abuse and exploitation, and I am so incredibly pleased to see Queensland legislate a child-safe organisations system.

“Since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse handed down its expert findings, Australian governments have worked to develop solutions to keep our children safer."

Quotes attributed to QFCC Commissioner Natalie Lewis:

“Every Queensland child has the right to be raised safely in their culture, connected to kin and country. 

“These amendments are a necessary step to address the structural and systemic barriers that have disproportionately affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and disrupted the safe care, connection and cultural continuity of our children and young people. 

"These proposed changes support our collective commitment to promote and protect the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and uphold our enduring legal obligations—to make decisions in the best interests of children now and for the duration of that child’s life.”

ENDS