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Queensland parliament has passed laws to create the state’s first public register of some child sexual abusers, with the new legislation named in memory of child murder victim Daniel Morcombe.
The move adds momentum to a campaign by Daniel’s parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, for a national register. The couple founded the child safety education charity the Daniel Morcombe Foundation after the murder of their 13-year-old son in 2003 by paedophile Brett Peter Cowan.
Only one state, Western Australia, has an operational sex offender register that allows parents and guardians to make inquiries with WA police about any person who has unsupervised contact with their child or children. South Australia has recently moved to create one.
Queensland’s laws will grant access to information about people on the existing sex offender register now only accessible to police in three ways, similar to the WA model.
The police commissioner will post images and “particular personal details” of offenders who have breached reporting requirements and whose whereabouts is unknown on a public website, under the first tier.
Tier two allows Queensland residents to apply to temporarily view facial images of reportable offenders living in their suburb or small town.
Parents and guardians can also ask the register if a person with unsupervised contact with their child is a convicted sexual offender.
Three new offences will be created to prevent the misuse of information or acts of vigilantism.
Child sexual abuse prevention service Bravehearts supported the legislation but told a parliamentary inquiry into the bill that it risked giving parents a “false sense of security”. Only 6% of convicted child sexual offenders were able to be included in the WA scheme, it said.
Experts have previously told the Guardian that Australia has among the world’s weakest child sexual abuse prevention systems, due to a reluctance to adopt similar policies.
[Ed: Frankly this scheme sounds far too limited. Convictions are on the public record and should be readily searchable.]