June 2025

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Legal Corner

Legal Q&A

By

Brian

Brian writes from Wolston CC in Queensland.

Ethan Cassidy

My name is Brian. A lot of guys here are talking about new legislation coming in the near future, but I haven’t found it anywhere. It is called “Daniel’s Law”. I was wondering if you could explain it and when it will take effect and who it will apply to?

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Thank you and take care,

Brian.

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Legal Q&A

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Response from About Time:

Hi Brian,

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Thank you for your letter. Daniel’s Law is incoming legislation in Queensland which involves the creation of a Public Child Sex Offender Register. The Queensland government has allocated $10 million to set up this register, and has said it plans for it to be launched by the end of this year.

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It is proposed to include information of individuals convicted of a child sex-related offence, with further information on the type of offences to be included to be announced by the state government.

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The current register in Queensland, which cannot be accessed by members of the public, applies to a long list of offences connected with child sexual abuse or possession or production of material that depicts sexual abuse of children.

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The new register under Daniel’s Law proposes to operate across three tiers, with the only publicly available information being on individuals who have convicted a “reportable” crime and who have breached bail. Further information on convicted offenders will be available upon request by individuals, while parents and carers will be able to directly ask for information on an individual.

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The Queensland government plans to establish a public website where photographs and personal details of “offenders” who have breached bail and their location is unknown will be publicly available.

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Under the plan, individuals will be able to ask for a photograph of a convicted offender if they are identified in their area. The details of what is your “local area” have not yet been announced by the state government.

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The plan will also allow parents or guardians to directly ask about someone who has regular, unsupervised access to their child and see whether they are on the register.

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The laws are based on a similar scheme which has been running in Western Australia for more than a decade, while the Tasmanian and South Australian governments have also announced plans to introduce sex offender registers.

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The Western Australian register covers high-risk serious sexual offenders subject to supervision orders, serious repeat reportable offenders and individuals convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment for five years and more and concern is held that they may pose a risk to the lives or sexual safety of one or more persons.

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The law however has yet to pass in Parliament, and further details on how it will operate and what convictions it will cover will be revealed later this year.

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Important Note:

The information provided in this article is information only and is no substitute for legal advice. If you would like advice about your situation, you should consult
a lawyer.

Date Published

June 4, 2025

This

article

was originally printed in the

edition of About Time.

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Legal Corner

Legal Q&A

By

Brian

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