On 21 June 2023, the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) tabled in State Parliament a report following its legislative review of the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2004 (the Act).
The Act came into effect in 2004 as part of nationally consistent legislation intended to protect children from the risks posed by people living in the community who had been convicted of sexual or other serious offences against children. The legislation requires such offenders to, among other things, keep police informed of their personal details and whereabouts for a set period of time.
In 2014, the then Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) recommended the Act be reviewed, and in 2017, the government implemented that recommendation by legislative change. Specifically, section 74C of the Act requires that the CCC review the operation of the Act, prepare a report on the review, and provide a copy of the report to the Speaker for tabling in the Legislative Assembly.
The review tabled in Parliament was conducted based on that provision.
As part of this review, the CCC called for submissions, interviewed specialist police who administer the Act and prosecutors from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, collected official quantitative data from the Queensland Police Service, Queensland Courts, Queensland Corrective Services, and reviewed peer-reviewed journal articles.
The CCC review also examined the public submissions made to two Bills that sought to amend the Act. Those Bills were introduced while the CCC review was being undertaken.
The review presents 23 recommendations to Government that seek to improve the Act and how it operates.
