Lesson 18: Child Protection Legislation (QLD)
Legislation
- Under the Queensland Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 (the Commission’s Act) employers of people engaged in regulated child-related activities and people carrying on regulated businesses are required to develop and implement a written risk management strategy to protect children and young people from harm. The strategy must be reviewed at least annually.
Vicarious liability
- Vicarious liability describes the principle in law which says that, depending on the circumstances, an organisation can be held responsible for the behaviour of its employees (including staff, volunteers and contractors), unless:
- it can be shown that all reasonable steps were taken to prevent the behaviour from happening in the first place
- there were appropriate policies and procedures in place for dealing with the behaviour when it occurred.
- The same principle applies to governing bodies and clubs.
Reporting disclosures and suspicions of harm
- Sporting personnel need to be aware that because of the large number of children participating in sport and the closeness of relationships formed, they may come across children being abused or who disclose their abuse to them. This abuse may be occurring within or outside of sport.
- Queensland has many professions that are mandatory reporters, and although people working in sporting or recreation organisations are not included in this category, there may be some individuals who do have this responsibility as a result of their employment with other organisations (e.g., teachers who coach the local team). Even though not required by law, anyone who suspects that a child or young person is at risk of neglect or abuse should report it to the Department of Child Safety.
Police check