How Queensland’s public sex offender register will work

Queenslanders who misuse the state’s first public sex offender register to incite violence or pursue paedophiles will face up to 10 years’ jail under new laws designed to deter vigilantes.

The government will create three new offences to deter vigilante behaviour, alongside legislation for the public sex offender register, due to be introduced in state parliament on Wednesday.

Queenslanders face up to 10 years’ prison if they misuse the register to harass offenders on the list, or incite violence. The unauthorised sharing of information on the register will carry a maximum three-year sentence.

Under the register, to be known as Daniel’s Law after slain Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, images and details of offenders who have failed to comply with their reporting obligations and whose whereabouts are unknown will also be available through a publicly available website.

“If there’s someone who doesn’t comply with conditions that have been set, well, they should be able to be displayed for everyone to see,” Premier David Crisafulli told ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday.

“Your name, your age, your face will be available on a public website.”

Additionally, Queenslanders will be able to access a searchable database and apply for images of child sex offenders who live in their area.

Parents will also be able to apply to police to find out whether someone having unsupervised contact with their child is a reportable offender.

“If there’s someone in your region … or if there’s someone who is coming into your family’s orbit [you will have] the ability to make sure you are able to check their bona fides as an individual,” the premier said.

“I understand there will be those who say, well, what about the rights of those individuals? I just take this view that the rights of parents and the rights of children have to come first ahead of the rights of predators, ahead of the rights of monsters.

“This is another tool that people can use – and they must use it responsibly – but it’s another tool they can use to keep their kids safe.”

The scheme will be administered by Queensland Police.

Crisafulli said the register was something he had personally promised to Daniel’s parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe.

“I looked them in the eye and made them a promise we’ll pass the laws this year and we’re fulfilling that,” he said.

The Morcombes, who travelled to state parliament on Wednesday, spoke of the mantra that has helped inspire their years of activism.

“Never waste our pain.”

Speaking about his son’s death on ABC Radio, Bruce Morcombe said: “It’s happened … I can’t change that. But what I’ve got to do is live for today and I’ve got to make change to make it easier for others tomorrow.

“We quietly have just a personal saying … we didn’t ever want to waste our pain. That’s really been our mantra, where we’ve just made the effort to do something positive every day to keep Aussie kids safe.”

Although Morcombe does not believe the laws will be a silver bullet, he said they would be a valuable tool in keeping children safe.

“We still, as parents and carers, need to be vigilant and on the front foot. Technology changes, attitudes change. Unfortunately, predators are really smart. So we’ve got to be on that front foot, but this is a tool that will help identify those monsters that are lurking,” he said.

Police Minister Dan Purdie, a former child abuse detective on the Sunshine Coast where Daniel was abducted, said vigilantism was not an issue in Western Australia, the other state with a public sex offender register.

“We do trust Queenslanders and parents to use this information wisely,” Purdie told ABC Radio.

However, the introduction of the register has been controversial. Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said the new law could do more harm than good, as offenders’ names are often concealed to protect their victims.

With AAP

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