Date published: 19 December 2014

The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has made 17 recommendations aimed at improving the way offender prohibition orders are used to protect children from people who have been convicted of sexual or other serious crimes against children and are living in the community.

The recommendations are contained in the CCC’s report Review of the operation of the Child Protection (Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2008 (CPOPO Act) which has been tabled in State Parliament today.

Section 60 of the CPOPO Act required the CCC to review the operation of the legislation five years after it took effect. The review therefore examined only the CPOPO Act and was not a review of the broader child protection system in Queensland.

The CPOPO Act gives police the power to apply to the courts for an offender prohibition order. These orders ban people who have previously committed sexual and other serious offences against children from otherwise-lawful activities that pose a risk to the lives or sexual safety of children. Such activities are known under the CPOPO Act as concerning conduct and may include living in a house with a child under the age of 16, living near a child care centre or attending a place frequented by children such as a park or playground.

The CPOPO Act therefore aims to prevent reoffending by prohibiting past offenders from engaging in activities which could be seen as a precursor to further offences. Failing to comply with the conditions of an offender prohibition order carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.

The review found that 48 offender prohibition orders were made against 21 offenders between 2008 and 2013. Of those 21 offenders, 7 breached the conditions of their orders and were subsequently charged.

The review found that the way the CPOPO Act works in conjunction with another key piece of legislation – the Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004 (CPOR Act) – may complicate the system for managing relevant offenders. To address this issue, the CCC has recommended combining the two Acts.

The CCC’s review also identified a number of barriers for police in applying for an offender prohibition order, including limited resources and systems for identifying concerning conduct and insufficient training in how to use the powers provided in the CPOPO Act.

The CCC has therefore made a number of recommendations which aim to improve the training, resources and powers available to police to monitor offenders and secure offender prohibition orders where they deem it appropriate.

A copy of the review of the Child Protection (Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2008 is available on the CCC’s website. 

ENDS

To provide feedback on this page's content, please contact us.
News types
Media release
Topics
CCC
Research
Brand logo as background