QCOSS recently prepared a submission to the Queensland Parliament’s Community Support and Services Committee responding to their Inquiry into the Child Safe Organisations Bill 2024.

QCOSS welcomes the Queensland Government’s commitment to implement recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. QCOSS, and our sector members, welcome measures in the Bill which will help to support child safety through the establishment of the Child Safe Standards (CSS), a Universal Principle for cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (Universal Principle), and the Reportable Conduct Scheme (RCS).

While Queensland will have the benefit of learning from the experiences of other jurisdictions who have already implemented similar frameworks, it is important to consider the factors and challenges that are unique to Queensland, including the size of our state.

It will be essential to ensure the Bill is supported by careful implementation activities, investment, and support for organisations in relation to capacity and compliance. We encourage the Committee to consider the timeframes outlined in the Bill with a view to ensuring implementation is successful. We also encourage close engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled organisations (Community Controlled Sector) on whether the Bill requires amendments, and whether there are any additional commitments needed, to ensure implementation is managed in a culturally safe way.

Community service organisations implementing the CSS, the Universal Principle, and the RCS, along with relevant regulatory bodies, must be set up to succeed and must be appropriately supported, consulted, and informed through these significant next steps.