Legal Affairs and Safety Committee
OrganisationReferenced in 7 bills
Victims' Commissioner and Sexual Violence Review Board Bill 2024
This bill establishes a Victims' Commissioner as an independent statutory officer to promote and protect the rights of victims of crime in Queensland. It also creates a Sexual Violence Review Board to identify and address systemic issues in how sexual offences are reported, investigated and prosecuted. The bill was recommended by the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce and the Independent Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence.
Criminal Code (Serious Vilification and Hate Crimes) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill strengthens Queensland's hate crime and vilification laws by implementing recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry. It increases penalties for serious vilification, creates aggravated offences for crimes motivated by hatred based on race, religion, sexuality, sex characteristics or gender identity, and bans the public display of prescribed hate symbols such as Nazi imagery.
Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill 2024
This bill creates Queensland's first laws to regulate the fertility industry and establishes a central register of donor conception information. It was introduced after high-profile failures in 2023, including allegations of wrong donor sperm being used and donors having far more genetic offspring than guidelines allow. The bill requires all fertility clinics to hold a Queensland licence, sets enforceable rules for how gametes and embryos are used, and gives all donor-conceived people the right to know who their biological donor is.
Respect at Work and Other Matters Amendment Bill 2024
This bill makes wide-ranging changes to Queensland's anti-discrimination, sentencing and judicial laws. It strengthens workplace protections against sexual harassment and discrimination, adds new grounds on which people are protected from unfair treatment, and requires employers to actively prevent discrimination. It also increases penalties for violence against workers and clarifies judicial immunity.
Corrective Services (Promoting Safety) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill amends Queensland's corrective services laws to improve safety for victims of crime, frontline corrective services officers, prisoners, and the wider community. It strengthens the QCS Victims Register, cracks down on prisoners misusing phone systems for domestic violence, extends police powers over dangerous sex offenders on supervision, and reforms the Parole Board to include victim and First Nations representation.
Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill overhauls Queensland's blue card system, which screens people who work or volunteer with children. It introduces a fairer risk-based assessment, expands the types of jobs and businesses requiring blue cards, and begins removing the blue card requirement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship carers. It also enables sharing of child protection court records with family law courts across Australia.
Victims of Crime Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023
This bill increases the financial assistance available to victims of violent crime in Queensland, with the maximum payment for primary victims rising from $75,000 to $120,000. It recognises the seriousness of domestic and family violence by boosting the special assistance payment for those victim-survivors from $1,000 to $9,000. These are the first increases to most victim assistance caps since 2009.