Education and Care Services Act 2013
LegislationReferenced in 11 bills
Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Bill 2017
This bill replaces Queensland's 2001 law on non-State school accreditation with a modernised framework. It streamlines how independent and Catholic schools become accredited, gives the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board responsibility for deciding government funding eligibility, and strengthens inspection and investigation powers.
Disability Services and Other Legislation (Worker Screening) Amendment Bill 2020
This bill creates a mandatory screening system for people who work with Queenslanders with disability. It implements the nationally agreed NDIS worker screening scheme and establishes a separate state system for disability services funded outside the NDIS. The bill also strengthens how the blue card system works alongside disability screening to protect children with disability.
Child Protection (Mandatory Reporting - Mason’s Law) Amendment Bill 2016
This bill adds early childhood education and care workers to Queensland's list of mandatory child abuse reporters. From 1 January 2017, qualified staff, nominated supervisors and individual approved providers at child care centres, kindergartens and family day care services must report suspected physical or sexual abuse to Child Safety.
Working with Children Legislation (Indigenous Communities) Amendment Bill 2018
This bill proposed giving Indigenous Community Justice Groups the power to approve Blue Cards (working with children checks) for community members who would otherwise be denied due to certain non-sexual criminal offences such as stealing, burglary, and drug offences. It was a private member's bill introduced by Mr R Katter MP. The bill's second reading failed and it did not become law.
Public Health (Childcare Vaccination) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill lets Queensland childcare services refuse to enrol or exclude children who aren't up to date with their vaccinations, and protects operators from being sued for those decisions. It also gives the Health Ombudsman stronger powers to compel people to attend and answer questions during healthcare complaint investigations.
Working with Children Legislation (Indigenous Communities) Amendment Bill 2017
This bill would have let Community Justice Groups in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities recommend that a local person be issued a blue card to work with children in their own community, even if a past non-sexual conviction would normally block one. The card would be valid only in that community. The bill was introduced by Mr Robbie Katter MP and lapsed at the end of the 55th Parliament, so it did not become law.
Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill introduces a 'No Card, No Start' policy for Queensland's blue card system, meaning no one can begin paid work with children without first holding a working with children clearance. It also modernises the blue card application process with online options, expands the criminal offences that automatically disqualify a person from working with children, closes loopholes that allowed high-risk people to rely on exemptions, and creates a centralised register of home-based care services.
Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill overhauls Queensland's blue card (Working with Children Check) system. It introduces a new risk-based decision-making framework replacing the current 'best interests' test, expands the types of work and businesses that require blue cards, simplifies the disqualification process, removes blue card requirements for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship carers, and improves information sharing between agencies.
Child Safe Organisations Bill 2024
This bill creates a mandatory child safe organisations system for Queensland, requiring organisations that work with children to meet 10 child safe standards and report allegations of child abuse by their workers. It implements key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and gives the Queensland Family and Child Commission new powers to oversee child safety across sectors including schools, childcare, health services, religious bodies, sport clubs, and government agencies.
Tobacco and Other Smoking Products (Smoke-free Places) Amendment Bill 2015
This bill amends Queensland's tobacco laws to ban smoking in many more outdoor public places, including bus stops, outdoor malls, public swimming pools, skate parks, under-age sports grounds, childcare centres and aged care homes. It also stops the sale of smoking products from pop-up stalls at festivals and gives councils a new general power to ban smoking at other outdoor public places.
Working with Children (Indigenous Communities) Amendment Bill 2021
This bill would have created a new Blue Card framework giving Indigenous community justice groups the power to recommend restricted working with children clearances for people in their communities. It aimed to address chronic unemployment in remote Indigenous communities where the standard Blue Card system's inflexibility prevents people with certain past offences from accessing employment, even when the local community considers them safe. The bill's second reading was defeated and it did not become law.