The Bill was developed in response to issues which emerged in the Anglican inquiry into past handling of complaints of sexual abuse in schools, and the subsequent recommendations of the Ministerial Taskforce established by the Premier to address these issues. It incorporates amendments to the following Acts:
The new legislation is designed to provide greater protection for children in schools from sexual abuse and other inappropriate conduct by school-based employees. It creates a mandatory reporting requirement whereby teaching and non-teaching staff are obliged to report actual or suspected sexual abuse of children by other school-based employees to certain persons who must then pass the information on to the police. It also enhances the role of the Board of Teacher Registration in assessing a person's suitability to work with children.
The new legislation implements the taskforce proposals in so far as they relate to teachers. The taskforce proposals relating specifically to non-teaching staff will be implemented through separate legislation to be prepared following the statutory review of Part 6 of the Commission for Children and Young People Act 2000.
It is intended that the changes relating to mandatory reporting requirements and new obligations on registered teachers to provide certain information (if applicable) to the Board of Teacher Registration will take effect from the start of Term 2, 2004.
Information package for state schools
Information package for non-state schools
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© The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and the Arts) 2004.