Queensland Consolidated Acts

CHILD PROTECTION (OFFENDER REPORTING AND OFFENDER PROHIBITION ORDER) ACT 2004 - SECT 3

3 Purposes of this Act

(1) Parliament recognises that any risk to the lives or sexual safety of 1 or more children, or of children generally, is unacceptable.

(1A) The purposes of this Act are—

(a) to provide for the protection of the lives of children and their sexual safety; and

(b) to require particular offenders who commit sexual, or particular other serious, offences against children to keep police informed of the offender’s whereabouts and other personal details for a period of time after the offender’s release into the community—

(i) to reduce the likelihood that the offender will re-offend; and

(ii) to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of any future offences that the offender may commit.

(2) In outline, this Act—

(a) provides for the establishment of a child protection register; and

(b) requires offenders who are sentenced for reportable offences to report specified personal details for inclusion in the register; and

(c) requires those reportable offenders to keep those details up to date, to report those details periodically and to also report particular travel plans; and

(d) imposes those reporting obligations for a period of between 2 1 / 2 years and life, depending on the number, severity and timing of the offences committed, and the age of the reportable offender at the time an offence was committed; and

(e) allows for the recognition of the period of reporting obligations imposed under laws of foreign jurisdictions; and

(f) provides for the making of orders against particular offenders who commit sexual, or particular other serious, offences against children to—

(i) prohibit the offenders from engaging in conduct posing a risk to the safety or wellbeing of 1 or more children, or of children generally; or

(ii) require the offenders to do particular things to reduce the risk to the safety or wellbeing of 1 or more children, or of children generally.

(3) Subsection (2) is intended only as a guide to readers about the general scheme and effect of this Act.