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Definitions
Please see the following definitions of terms used in the blue card system, as per the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000.
Schedule 7 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines active recreation as a form of physical exertion or activity engaged in for the purpose of relaxation or enjoyment that is not based on formal competition.
Adjunct care is child care or education and care provided to a child:
- in conjunction with a meeting, function or other activity involving a relative or guardian of the child other than the paid employment of the relative or guardian, and
- on the premises in which the meeting, function or other activity is taking place, and
- for not more than 3 hours on each occasion the child care or education and care is provided.
Amusement park includes a park that is permanent or temporary but does not include an amusement arcade.
A person who:
- holds full registration or provisional registration under the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005, or
- a person who holds a permission to teach under the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005.
Chief Executive (education and care)
Chief executive (education and care) means the chief executive of the department in which the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) is administered.
Section 36 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 defines a child as an individual who is under 18.
A child accommodation service is defined as a service for which the main purpose is to provide accommodation for children but does not include:
- the care of children by an approved carer under the Child Protection Act 1999 acting in that capacity, or
- the provision of accommodation to children under residential tenancy agreements under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.
Child care is care of a child provided:
- by someone other than a relative or guardian of the child, and
- for reward, and
- in the course of a service for regularly providing care of children.
A child care centre means the premises in which child care is provided under a licence for a centre based service under the Child Care Act 2002.
Section 5(1) of the Child Care Act 2002 defines a 'child care service' as a child care service for regularly providing child care, but does not include any of the following services -
- an education and care service
- a service, for providing primary, secondary or special education, conducted by a school
- a service for providing a pre-preparatory learning program, at a prescribed State school or a prescribed non-State school, to a pre-preparatory age child
- a service principally conducted to provide -
- therapeutic services; or
- residential facilities; or
- instruction in a particular activity, for example, dance, music or a sport; or
- tutoring, coaching or religious instruction; or
- a recreational activity, for example, a camp or party
- a service for which, usually, the children to whom care is provided are entirely or mostly different on each occasion the care is provided
- a service in which the only child care provided is -
- holiday care; or
- adjunct care; or
- care of children who are at least 12 years old;
- a service that is, under the Child Protection Act 1999, a licensed care service, departmental care service or service provided as an approved carer
- another service prescribed under a regulation not to be a child care service.
To remove any doubt, it is declared that a service may be a child care service even though it is conducted -
- by an entity that also carries on a school; or
- at premises at which a school is also carried on.
A place at which disability services are provided to children.
The Queensland College of Teachers established under the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005, section 229.
A commercial service means a service operated on a commercial basis.
A service that provides or purports to provide, on a professional basis, help or guidance to persons to resolve personal, social or emotional problems or difficulties.
Schedule 7 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines 'disciplinary information' as information received by the Commissioner under any of the following:
- the Child Care Act 2002, section 50A or 107A; or
- the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) Act 2011, section 19 or 20; or
- the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland), section 271; or
- the Child Protection Act 1999, section 140A; or
- the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005, section 285, or the repealed Education (Teacher Registration) Act 1988, section 71B; or
- the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005, section 285A in relation to a matter mentioned in subsection (1)(a)(ii) to (v) of that section; or
- the Health Practitioners (Professional Standards) Act 1999, section 384A.
Section 168 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines 'disqualifying offence'.
An offence is categorised as a ‘disqualifying offence’ under the Act if it is:
- an offence against a provision of an Act detailed in the table below;
- an offence under a law of another jurisdiction that, if it had been committed in Queensland, would have constituted an offence of a kind detailed in the table below;
- an offence of counselling or procuring the commission of an offence of a kind mentioned in the table below; or
- an offence of attempting, or of conspiring, to commit an offence of a kind detailed in the table below; or
- an offence that has, as an element, an intention to commit an offence of a kind mentioned in the table below; or
- an offence that, at the time it was committed, was an offence of a kind mentioned in the table below.
Please click here for a table which contains a full list of disqualifying offences.
Schedule 169 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines 'disqualifying person':
(1) A person is a disqualified person if the person -
- (a) has been or is convicted of a disqualifying offence; or
- (b) is subject to—
- (i) offender reporting obligations; or
- (ii) an offender prohibition order; or
- (iii) a disqualification order; or
- (iv) a sexual offender order
(2) However, a person to whom subsection (1)(a) applies is not a disqualified person if the Commissioner issued an eligibility declaration to the person and the eligibility declaration has not expired.
Section 5(1) of the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) Act 2011 defines education and care service as any service providing or intended to provide education and care on a regular basis to children under 13 years of age other than—
- (a) a school providing full-time education to children, including children attending in the year before grade 1 but not including a preschool program delivered in a school or a preschool that is registered as a school; or
- (b) a preschool program delivered in a school if—
- (i) the program is delivered in a class or classes where a full-time education program is also being delivered to school children; and
- (ii) the program is being delivered to fewer than 6 children in the school; or
- (c) a personal arrangement; or
- (d) a service principally conducted to provide instruction in a particular activity; or
Example :-
Instruction in a particular activity could be instruction in sport, dance, music, culture or language or religious instruction.
- (e) a service providing education and care to patients in a hospital or patients of a medical or therapeutic care service; or
- (f) care provided under a child protection law of a participating jurisdiction; or
- (g) a prescribed class of disability service; or
- (h) a service of a prescribed class;
Example
Education and care services to which this Law applies include long day care services, family day care services, outside school hours services and preschool programs including those delivered in schools, unless expressly excluded.
Education and care service premises
Section 5(1) of the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) Act 2011 defines education and care premises as:-
- (a) in relation to an education and care service other than a family day care service, each place at which an education and care service operates or is to operate; or
- (b) in relation to a family day care service—
- (i) an office of the family day care service; or
- (ii) an approved family day care venue; or
- (iii) each part of a residence used to provide education and care to children as part of a family day care service or used to provide access to the part of the residence used to provide that education and care.
Section 5(1) of the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) Act 2011 defines educator as an individual who provides education and care for children as part of an education and care service.
- Schedule 7 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines 'education provider' to mean each of the following, within the meaning given by the Higher Education (General Provisions) Act 2008, schedule 2 -
- a non self-accrediting higher education institution
- a self-accrediting higher education institution
- an interstate self-accrediting higher education institution that holds a recognised self-accrediting authority under that Act
- a university
- a specialised university
- a university college
- a specialised university college
- an interstate university, interstate specialised university, interstate university college or interstate specialised university college, that holds a recognised authority under that Act
- an overseas higher education institution for which an approval is held under part 5 of that Act; or
- the university company within the meaning of the Bond University Act 1987; or
- a registered training organisation within the meaning of the Vocational Education, Training and Employment Act 2000, section 19.
Eligibility Declaration Application
Means an application to the Commissioner for an ‘eligibility declaration’
A declaration issued by the Commissioner that a person is not a disqualified person and is eligible to sign an application.
A person is employing another person if there is an agreement with the other person to carry out work, irrespective of the nature of that work, regardless of the following:
- whether the agreement is written or unwritten, and
- whether the work is carried out voluntarily or for financial reward, and
- what a person’s motivation is for carrying out the work, and
- the time for which the person is engaged to carry out the work, and
- whether the agreement provides for the person to carry out work on 1 occasion or on an ongoing basis, whether regularly or irregularly.
Examples of employment
- A person is engaged by a school as a cleaner under a written contract of employment
- A person orally agrees with the manager of a club to coach a children’s sporting team during a season
- The manager of a counselling organisation agrees with an adult student that the adult student attend the organisation’s office each day during a semester and carry out various duties
- A tour operator arranges with the parents of a family to provide a child accommodation service in their home to an international student.
A non state school entity means:
- the school’s governing body under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2001, or
- a staff member of the school given written authorisation by the governing body for the purpose of enabling flexible arrangements for a student, instead of the student taking part in the school’s educational programs in the usual way.
A state educational entity means the chief executive.
Executive Officer of a Parent and Citizens Association under the Education (General Provisions) Act
An executive officer of an association means an officer of the executive committee. An executive committee comprises the president, vice-president or vice presidents (if more than 1), secretary and treasurer.
Executive Officer of a Corporation
An executive officer of a corporation means any person, by whatever name called and whether or not the person is a director of the corporation, who is concerned or takes part in the management of the corporation.
Final Offender Prohibition Order
Means a final order under the Offender Prohibition Order Act.
Funded non-government service provider
Section 17 of the Disability Services Act 2006, defines a funded non-government service provider as a non-government service provider receiving recurrent or one-off funds from the department to provide disability services, regardless of whether other funds or resources are also used by the non-government service provider to provide disability services.
Section 24 of the Public Service Act 2008 defines a government entity as:
- a department or part of a department, or
- a public service office or part of a public service office, or
- an agency, authority, commission, corporation, instrumentality, office, or other entity, established under an Act or under State authorisation for a public or State purpose, or
- a part of an entity mentioned above in paragraph c, or
- another entity, or part of another entity, declared under a regulation to be a government entity, or
- a registry or other administrative office of a court of the State of any jurisdiction.
However, the following entities are not considered to be 'government entities':
- a local government
- a local government owned corporation, or a subsidiary of a local government owned corporation, under the Local Government Act 2009
- the parliamentary service
- the Governor’s official residence (Government House) and its associated administrative unit
- the Executive Council
- the Legislative Assembly
- a court of the State of any jurisdiction
- the police service to the extent that it does not include staff members mentioned in the Police Service Administration Act 1990, section 2.5(1)(a)
- a school council established under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, university or university college
- a cooperative under the Cooperatives Act 1997 for primary producers that is not in receipt of moneys of, or financial assistance from, the State
- a government owned corporation, unless a regulation declares it to be a government entity
- another entity, or part of another entity, declared under a regulation not to be a government entity.
Section 10 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines a "government service provider" as a government entity or a local government.
A hospital, nursing home, community health facility or another similar place, including a place that is used as a hospital, nursing home or community health facility on a temporary basis.
A registered health practitioner, health care worker or an assistant to a health practitioner.
A person to whom education or training is being provided at a health facility if the education or training enables the person to whom it is provided:
- to obtain the necessary education or qualification to become a health professional, or
- to obtain the necessary registration, enrolment or other authorisation (however called) to practise as a health professional, or
- to complete a course of study to practise as a health professional.
A health service means any of the following:
- service for maintaining, improving, restoring or caring for a person’s health or wellbeing, including, for example, the following:
- a service providing personal care to a person who is ill, injured or otherwise infirm
- a service providing respite care
- a service provided by a practitioner of hypnosis, naturopathy, acupuncture or another form of natural or alternative health care
- a massage service, including a massage service for relaxation
- a service provided by a health student in the student's capacity as a health student
- a service prescribed under a regulation to be a health service
Hospital
Schedule 5 of the Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act 2006 defines hospital as a public sector hospital, a private health facility or the Mater Misericordiae Public Hospitals.
Imprisonment Order
Means either of the following orders:
- an order of a court that convicts a person for an offence, if the order includes a penalty that includes imprisonment for the offence, whether wholly or partially suspended
- an intensive correction order under the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 or an order of another jurisdiction that substantially corresponds to an intensive correction order, but
- does not include an order of imprisonment that is imposed as a consequence of a breach of a community service order or probation order within the meaning of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992.
Section 305 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines 'investigative information' as information gathered by the Queensland Police Service as part of an investigation into an alleged offence, which did not result in the matter proceeding to a charge against a person.
Strict parameters have been set around the type of investigative information that may be forwarded by the Police Commissioner to the Commission. These are:
- that there is or was evidence of acts or omissions that, at the time of the act or emissions, constituted a serious child-related offence
- that the police investigated the alleged offence
- that the applicant was formally notified by being asked to participate in an interview, by participating in an interview, or otherwise being given the opportunity to answer the allegations
- that there was sufficient evidenced available capable of establishing each element of the alleged offence, and
- despite the above criteria, a decision was made not to charge the person because the complainant died before the charge was brought, or the complainant was unwilling to proceed, or the complainant’s parent or guardian decided that in the interests of the complainant, the matter should not proceed.
Means a licensed care service under the Child Protection Act 1999. Schedule 3 of the Child Protection Act 1999 states that a 'licensed care service' means a service, operated under a licence, to provide care for children in the chief executive’s custody or guardianship.
Notifiable person means: -
- (a)
- (i) if the person has applied for, started or is continuing in, regulated employment--the person's employer; or
- (ii) if the person is a trainee student of an education provider--the education provider; or
- (iii) if the commissioner is aware that the person is a licensee or the nominee of a licensee under the Child Care Act 2002 - the chief executive (child care); or
- (iv) if the commissioner is aware that the person is an adult occupant of a home in which child care is provided in the course of a licensed home based service under the - the licensee of the home based service under that Act; or
- (v) if the commissioner is aware that the person is an adult occupant of a home in which stand alone child care is provided under the Child Care Act 2002 -the chief executive (child care); or
- (vi) if the commissioner is aware that the person is an approved provider under the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) – the chief executive (education and care); or
- (vii) if the commissioner is aware that the person is an adult occupant of a home in which education and care is provided in the course of an approved family day care service under the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) – the approved provider of the family day care service under that Law; or
- (viii) if the commissioner is aware that the person is carrying on a regulated business as a religious representative--an entity within the relevant organised or recognised religious group that the commissioner reasonably considers has responsibility for supervising or disciplining the person; or
- (ix) if the commissioner is aware that the person is the nominee for, or an executive officer of an applicant for or holder of, a licence under the Child Protection Act 1999 - the chief executive (child safety); and
- (b) for chapter 8, part 5 other than sections 298 to 300--includes--
- (i) if the person is a police officer--the police commissioner; or
- (ii) if the person is a registered teacher--the college of teachers.
Section 5 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 stipulates the value of a ‘penalty unit’. From 21 August 2012, one penalty unit is equal to $110. Penalties for offences will state how many penalty units apply as the maximum penalty. If the penalty for an offence is listed as 10 penalty units, for example, the maximum penalty is $1100.
Police information about a person means the following:
- the person's criminal history
- investigative information about the person
- information as to whether the person is or has been -
- a relevant disqualified person; or
- the subject of an application for a disqualification order; or
- named as the respondent to an application for an offender prohibition order.
Means a Justice, Commissioner for Declarations, Lawyer or Police Officer.
Registered Health Practitioner
Schedule 7 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines a 'registered health practitioner as a person registered under any of the following Acts:
- Dental Technicians Registration Act 2001
- Health Practitioner Regulation National Law
- Medical Radiation Technologists Registration Act 2001
- Occupational Therapists Registration Act 2001
- Speech Pathologists Registration Act 2001.
* Please refer to your governing body for further information.
Schedule 7 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines a 'registered teacher' as a person who holds full registration or provisional registration under the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 and whose full or provisional registration has not been suspended under section 48 or 49 of that Act.
A person is a 'relevant disqualified person' if the person:
- has been or is convicted of a disqualifying offence for which an imprisonment order was or is imposed; or
- the person is subject to -
- offender reporting obligations; or
- an offender prohibition order; or
- a disqualification order; or
- a sexual offender order.
Schedule 7 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines a 'religious representative' as a person:
- who is a member of:
- an organised religion, or
- a religious group even if the group is not part of, or does not consider itself to be part of, an organised religion, and
- who, because of the way the organised religion or religious group operates
- holds a position in the religion or group that is supported by the religion or group, including financial support, in a way that allows the person:
- to devote himself or herself to promoting the religion's or group's objects or values, and
- to hold himself or herself out as a representative of the religion or group, or
- is training to hold a position mentioned in subparagraph (i), above.
- holds a position in the religion or group that is supported by the religion or group, including financial support, in a way that allows the person:
A place at which a child accommodation service is provided -
- by a prescribed department; or
- under funding provided by a prescribed department; or
- under funding provided by the Commonwealth and administered by a prescribed department; or
- under a licence under the Child Protection Act 1999; or
- to children who are, under the Child Protection Act 1999, in the custody or guardianship of the Chief Executive of the department in which that Act is administered, if the place is prescribed under a regulation made for this paragraph.
A school means:
- a State school within the meaning of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, or
- a school that is provisionally accredited, or accredited, under the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools ) Act 2001.
Section 167 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines a 'serious offence'.
An offence is categorised as a ‘serious offence’ under the Act if it is:
- an offence against a provision of an Act detailed in the table below;
- an offence under a law of another jurisdiction that, if it had been committed in Queensland, would have constituted a serious offence of a kind detailed in the table below;
- another offence that is a class 1 offence or a class 2 offence under the Offender Reporting Act that is not otherwise a serious offence under this Act; or
- an offence of counselling or procuring the commission of an offence of a kind mentioned in the table below; or
- an offence of attempting, or of conspiring, to commit an offence of a kind detailed in the table below; or
- an offence that has, as an element, an intention to commit an offence of a kind mentioned in the table below; or
- an offence that, at the time it was committed, was an offence of a kind mentioned in the table below.
Please click here for a table which contains a full list of serious offences.
A division 3 order, interim detention order or interim supervision order under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003.
Schedule 7 of the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act 2000 defines sport to mean a form of human activity capable of achieving a result requiring physical exertion or physical skill that, because of its nature or organisation, is competitive and is generally recognised as sport.
Staff member
- (a) of a visitable site, means--
- (i) a person in charge of the site; or
- (ii) another person who is concerned with, or takes part in, the management of the site; or
- (iii) another person who is a member of the staff at the site; or
- (b) in relation to and education and care service – means an individual employed, appointed or engaged in work in or as part of the service, whether as a family day care co-ordinator, educator or otherwise, and includes the nominated supervisor and a person employed, appointed or engaged as a volunteer: or
- (c) in relation to a child care service--see the Child Care Act 2002, section 57; or
- (d) for chapter 11, part 13--see section 465.
A service that provides emotional support, mentoring or pastoral care, but does not include a legal advice or legal advocacy service.
Temporary Offender Prohibition Order
A temporary order under the Child Protection (Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2008.
A trainee student of an education provider means a person undertaking a course of study with the education provider.
A volunteer is a person who is employed by another person not for financial reward but who may receive reimbursement for out of pocket expenses.
Last updated: 29 October, 2012
