Children’s Safety At The Fore In New Legislation

Paedophiles will be forced to prove they deserve bail while mechanisms aimed at safeguarding children and vulnerable people will be brought under a single entity in a Queensland-first initiative welcomed by Member for Burdekin Dale Last.

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Proposed legislation introduced into parliament last week would see the establishment of the Queensland Protection Commission from February 1st 2027, consolidating the Reportable Conduct Scheme, Working with Children Check (Blue Card) Scheme and Disability Worker Screening Scheme.

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Mr Last said the commission would better protect children and removed the information silos between each of the schemes to strengthen oversight and improve information sharing.

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“As parents we rely on having a robust system to protect our children in a range of environments and that starts with having all the information to be able to proactively identify any risks of harm. By integrating that information sharing under the commission, we lay the foundations for a new intelligence hub and strengthen the safeguards around children and vulnerable people,” Mr Last said.

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“This is about fulfilling our responsibility to protect children in our community and restoring confidence in the systems designed to protect children by increasing the penalties for those that don’t comply with information requests or knowingly provide false information to regulator.”

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“Daniel’s Law emphasised the need to give parents the comfort and the ability to know who is in their community and this bill now continues that delivery with the ability to now ensure all the information is available to authorities to identify any potential risks to our children.”

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Mr Last said by forcing serious repeat offenders and paedophiles to prove they deserve bail was reflective of community’s expectations of the justice system as the Crisafulli Government delivers the most significant bail reforms in the state’s history.

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“I have long said bail is a privilege not a right and this legislation addresses that community expectation in our justice system where an offender is held accountable for their actions from the day they are charged,” Mr Last said.

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“By changing the narrative and the belief that an offenders’ access to bail is above community safety, we send a clear message that in Queensland if you are granted the privilege of bail and you chose to offend again, you can expect to go to jail.”

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