Child Protection and Education Legislation (Reporting of Abuse) Amendment Bill 2017

Introduced: 21/3/2017By: Mr R Pyne MPStatus: Lapsed

Children & Families Justice & Rights Education

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Plain English Summary

Overview

This bill would have required ministers of religion who work with or are associated with a school to report suspected child sexual abuse to police. It amended the Child Protection Act 1999 and the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The bill lapsed at the end of the 55th Parliament and did not become law.

Who it affects

Priests, pastors, bishops, rabbis, imams and other religious figures working with State or non-State schools would have had a new legal duty to report child sexual abuse. Children at those schools would have gained extra protection.

Key changes

Adds ministers of religion linked to a school to the list of people who must report child abuse under the Child Protection Act 1999
Creates a new 'religious representative' category in the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 covering priests, pastors, bishops, rabbis and imams
Requires written reports to police immediately when abuse is known or suspected at a State or non-State school
Sets a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units for failing to report
Deliberately includes no exception for information disclosed in confession

How this affects you

Children & Families

•Ministers of religion working with your child's school would have been legally required to report suspected sexual abuse to policeClause 3Adds ministers of religion who work for or are associated with a school to the mandatory reporting list in section 13E of the Child Protection Act 1999.
•Children at both State and non-State schools would have gained an extra layer of protection from adults around themClauses 6-9Imposes reporting duties on religious representatives in relation to students at State schools (s365, s365A) and non-State schools (s366, s366A).
•This bill lapsed when Parliament ended and did not become law, so these protections were not added at the timeThe bill was introduced by Mr R Pyne MP as a private member's bill and lapsed.

Justice & Rights

•Religious ministers could have been fined up to 20 penalty units for failing to report suspected child sexual abuseClauses 6-9Maximum penalty of 20 penalty units applies to a religious representative who does not give a written report to a police officer immediately.
•The bill deliberately did not exempt information heard in religious confession from the duty to reportThe explanatory notes state the bill does not include the confessional as an exception from mandatory reporting.
•Reports about suspected abuse would have gone directly to Queensland Police, not to a church authorityClauses 6-9Religious representatives must give a written report about the abuse, or suspected abuse, to a police officer immediately.

Education

•Religious figures working in or with State schools would have had new abuse reporting dutiesClauses 6-7Amends s365 and s365A of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 to cover religious representatives at State schools.
•The same duties would have applied to religious figures working in or with non-State (including faith-based) schoolsClauses 8-9Amends s366 and s366A of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 to cover religious representatives at non-State schools.

Bill Journey

Introduced21 Mar 2017

First Reading

Committee

Committee Report

Second Reading

Lapsed29 Oct 2017

Referenced Entities

Sectors Affected

Child Protection School Education Criminal Law Policing

Classified using AGIFT/ANZSIC Australian government standards

Source Documents

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