Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
OrganisationReferenced in 13 bills
Civil Liability (Institutional Child Abuse) Amendment Bill 2018
This Greens private member's bill sought to implement key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It would have created a legal duty for institutions — such as schools, churches, and care facilities — to prevent child abuse and made it easier for survivors to sue by reversing the burden of proof. This bill was discharged and did not become law.
Criminal Code (Child Sexual Offences Reform) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill reforms Queensland's criminal justice system to better protect children from sexual abuse and improve access to justice for survivors. It implements key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, strengthens sentencing for child exploitation material offences, and criminalises child abuse objects such as life-like child replicas.
Civil Liability (Holding Institutions Accountable for Child Abuse) Amendment Bill 2026
This bill closes a legal loophole that prevented survivors of institutional child abuse from holding institutions accountable when their abuser was not a formal employee. It responds to the High Court's 2024 decision in Bird v DP, which ruled that vicarious liability only applies to employment relationships, by extending it to persons in relationships akin to employment, such as religious clergy, volunteers, and contractors.
Criminal Justice Legislation (Sexual Violence and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2024
This bill implements the third wave of reforms from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce, focusing on sexual violence and improving how women and girls experience the criminal justice system. It creates new offences to protect young people from sexual exploitation by people in authority, strengthens protections for vulnerable witnesses, allows expert evidence to help juries understand victim behaviour, and modernises rules about how past behaviour evidence can be used in criminal trials.
Child Protection and Education Legislation (Reporting of Abuse) Amendment Bill 2017
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.
Limitation of Actions and Other Legislation (Child Abuse Civil Proceedings) Amendment Bill
This bill would have removed time limits on civil lawsuits for child abuse, allowing survivors to sue institutions no matter how long ago the abuse happened. It also let survivors undo past settlements forced by expiring deadlines, stopped institutions from getting cases dismissed over delays they themselves caused, and restored jury trials for these cases. The bill failed at the second reading and did not become law.
Limitation of Actions (Institutional Child Sexual Abuse) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
This bill does four things at once. It removes the time limit for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse to sue for damages (even for abuse that happened decades ago), creates a modern class action system in the Supreme Court, closes a trust fund that helped pay for legal services, and makes permanent the scheme that lets Justices of the Peace hear minor civil disputes in QCAT.
Civil Liability and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018
This bill implements key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It shifts the burden of proof so institutions must show they took reasonable steps to prevent child sexual abuse, and creates a legal framework so survivors can identify and sue the right defendant even when the responsible institution is unincorporated or has changed over time.
Education (General Provisions) Amendment Bill 2025
This bill amends Queensland's Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 to reduce red tape for schools, parents and students, and to strengthen student safety when children transfer between schools. It implements a Royal Commission recommendation to make student transfer notes mandatory, streamlines consent for digital learning platforms, extends home education eligibility, and modernises the rules for Parents and Citizens' Associations.
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.
National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2018
This bill enables the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse to operate in Queensland, following recommendations from the Royal Commission. The Queensland Government committed $500 million for redress payments to people who experienced child sexual abuse in government-run institutions. The scheme provides eligible survivors with monetary payments, counselling and psychological care, and a direct personal response from the responsible institution.
Civil Liability (Institutional Child Abuse) Amendment Bill 2017
This bill would have made institutions legally responsible when children in their care are sexually or seriously physically abused by staff, volunteers or contractors. It implemented recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The bill lapsed when the 55th Parliament ended and did not become law.