Legislation to develop a public child sex offender register in Queensland will be debated in State Parliament this week.
The register, known as “Daniel’s Law”, will consist of three tiers and aims to protect children from reportable sex offenders.
The three tiers include: a publicly available website with photographs and personal details of reportable offenders who have failed to comply with their reporting obligations and whose whereabouts are unknown.
A locality search app providing photographs to identify certain offenders living in the local area.
And an app so parents, carers and guardians can apply to police to check whether an adult having regular unsupervised contact with their child is a current reportable offender.
“Daniel’s Law” is in recognition of Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe whose life was lost through tragedy, following more than two decades of advocacy from his parents, and through the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.
The Queensland Community Protection and Public Child Sex Offender Register will be administered by the Queensland Police Service.
If passed by Parliament the LNP Government hopes the law can be in place by the end of the year.
The State Government has also launched a Child Safety Commission of Inquiry, with the Blue Card Child Protection Review currently underway.
Premier David Crisafulli said “Daniel’s Law” is an important step to help make Queensland safer.
“Daniel’s Law arms parents with information to make decisions for the safety of their children,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“Monsters cannot be allowed to lurk in the darkness, Daniel’s Law will help protect children who can’t protect themselves.
“Everything we do is about driving down the number of victims of crime and this will help prevent innocent children falling prey to predators.
“We acknowledge the many years of advocacy from Bruce and Denise Morcombe, who have turned unimaginable tragedy into a legacy of better protection for Queensland children,” he said.
