Early Childhood

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.

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.

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.