Promised Queensland Blue Card changes not implemented

A change to the Blue Card system promised after the murder of Tiahleigh Palmer, and that would’ve flagged early concerns surrounding a childcare worker accused of raping 91 girls, has not been put in place six years after it was recommended.

A change to Queensland’s Blue Card system that would have allowed police to flag early concerns surrounding a childcare worker accused of raping 91 girls has not been put in place six years after it was recommended.

It is among more than 50 sweeping changes the state government has not yet put in place to strengthen the child protection system in the aftermath of the murder of schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer.

In one of Australia’s most horrific child abuse cases a Gold Coast man, 45, has been charged with more than 1600 offences including 136 counts of rape and 110 counts of intercourse with a child under 10 – all relating to 91 victims.

Queensland Police investigated the man in 2021 and 2022 but there was “insufficient evidence” to charge him, in turn scuppering any opportunities for police to pass on concerns to bureaucrats controlling the state’s working with children accreditation system.

“As there was insufficient evidence, the matters did not meet the threshold under section 305 of the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000 to be referred to Blue Card Services,” a QPS spokesman confirmed.

But the state government was told to lower this threshold six years ago as part of 81 recommendations the Queensland Family and Child Commission made through a major review to strengthen the Blue Card system ordered after the murder of Tiahleigh Palmer.

Tiahleigh Palmer.

The QFCC report, released in late 2017, warned current laws didn’t allow the Blue Card System to “reassess a person’s eligibility to hold a (Blue Card) if the person is a police suspect”.

“The (Working With Children) Act should be changed to make it clear that the QPS can provide this information and BCS can action it by suspending a blue card,” the report stated.

The Department of Justice and Attorney-General spokesman confirmed this law amendment was “not required to meet the intent of the recommendation given QPS operational practices”.

DJAG otherwise confirmed only 28 of the 81 Blue Card reform recommendations had been implemented in full, with 49 still in progress and work on four not yet commenced due to being dependent on other changes being made first.

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said the safety of children was an “absolute priority” for the state government and “95 per cent of the recommendations” from the QFCC review had been “completed or are in progress”.

“To say this government hasn’t acted to strengthen child safety is inaccurate,” she said.

Opposition justice spokesman Tim Nicholls said it was “unacceptable” the government had failed to implement the full swather of recommended changes after six years.

“They’ve failed to strengthen the Blue Card system and Queensland parents will be shocked to hear the promised changes have not been followed through after all this time,” he said.