Child Protection Act 1999

The Act affects every child in Queensland, every parent or person caring for a child, every doctor, registered nurse, teacher, certain police officers, child advocate workers under the Public Guardian Act 2014 and early childhood education and care professionals (with mandatory reporting duties under section 13E), every approved foster or kinship carer, every licensed care service operator, every State or Territory child protection authority where a transfer is sought, and every member of the SCAN system. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities are subject to specific placement principles, with prescribed delegates under Chapter 4 Part 2A having designated functions for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children.

Mandatory reporting (section 13E): a relevant person who, in the course of their engagement, forms a reportable suspicion about a child must give a written report to the chief executive under section 13G. A reportable suspicion is a reasonable suspicion that the child has suffered, is suffering or is at unacceptable risk of suffering significant harm caused by physical or sexual abuse, and may not have a parent able and willing to protect the child. Relevant persons are: doctors, registered nurses, teachers, designated police officers under the Police Service Administration Act 1990, child advocate workers under the Public Guardian Act 2014, and early childhood education and care professionals as defined.

Notification obligations for licensed care services and approved carers: Chapter 4 Part 2 Divisions 5 and 6 require notification of changes in personal history (sections 141C, 141D, 141E), changes in household composition (section 141G), and other events affecting authorities (sections 141H, 141I). Maximum penalty for many of these obligations is 100 penalty units.

Standards of care: Chapter 4 Part 1 sets the standards approved carers and licensed care services must meet. Conditions of licences must be complied with under section 144 (Maximum penalty 50 penalty units).

Confidentiality and non-publication: section 99ZG (in Chapter 2A Part 6) prohibits publication of tribunal evidence or information likely to identify a person, with corporate maximum 1,000 penalty units and individual maximum 100 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment. Chapter 6 Part 6 governs general confidentiality and disclosure.

The chief executive may receive reports under section 13G, conduct preliminary assessments, and pursue temporary assessment orders, court assessment orders, temporary custody orders or child protection orders as facts warrant. The chief executive may apply to the Childrens Court for any of those orders.

Authorised officers and police officers may apply for warrants for apprehension of a child (Chapter 6 Part 3), exercise general powers of entry, seizure and search under Chapter 6 Part 4, and may seize things under Division 2 of Part 4. Authorised officers must hold and produce identity cards (sections 152 and 153, Maximum penalty 40 penalty units for failing to return identity card after ceasing as an authorised officer).

The Childrens Court may grant or refuse orders, set conditions, adjourn proceedings, order conferences, and make appeal determinations. QCAT exercises tribunal review powers under Chapter 2A.

The Minister may make regulations. Licensing decisions for care services, approval of foster and kinship carers, provisional approval, amendment, suspension, cancellation or surrender of authorities sit in Chapter 4 Part 2 Divisions 2 to 4.

Major offences and penalties:

• Section 99ZG (publication of tribunal evidence): 1,000 penalty units (corporation) or 100 penalty units / 2 years imprisonment (individual).
• Section 162 (unlawful removal or interference with children in chief executive's custody): 150 penalty units or 18 months imprisonment.
• Sections 141C to 141I (personal history change, household member change, other events): 100 penalty units each.
• Section 144 (contravening condition of licence): 50 penalty units.
• Section 160 (obstruction of authorised officer): 40 penalty units.
• Section 161 (impersonation of authorised officer): 40 penalty units.
• Section 152 (failing to return identity card): 40 penalty units.

Chapter 6 Part 1 sets out further offences. Chapter 6 Part 2 deals with the prosecution of certain interstate offences. Chapter 6 Part 5 handles evidence and legal proceedings. Chapter 5 grants enforcement powers to authorised officers and police officers.

The intervention pipeline runs from notification (section 13G) through preliminary assessment, application for orders, court hearing, order making, case planning (Chapter 2 Part 3A) and review. Family group meetings sit in Part 3A Division 2. Case planning at family group meetings sits in Division 3. Periodic review of the case plan is governed by Division 5. Admissibility or use of particular evidence is restricted by Division 6 to support frank and constructive discussions.

Care agreements under Part 3B Division 3 are a parent-consent pathway. Child protection orders under Part 4 Division 2 are made by the Childrens Court on application by the chief executive. Transition orders under Part 4 Division 4 manage move-out from State care.

QCAT review under Chapter 2A is available for prescribed decisions, with proceedings under Chapter 2A Part 2, child participation under Part 3, medical examinations under Part 4, parties under Part 5, confidentiality under Part 6, and the obligation to give effect to tribunal decisions under Part 7.

Court appeals are governed by Chapter 3 Part 4.

The Act interacts with multiple Queensland statutes. The Public Guardian Act 2014 defines the child advocate function (section 13E(1)(e)). The Police Service Administration Act 1990 governs which police officers have mandatory reporting duties under section 13E. The Education and Care Services Act 2013 and the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) define early childhood education and care professionals. The Working with Children Check Act 2000 is applied through Chapter 4 Part 3 to all foster and kinship carers and care service personnel. The Public Health Act 2005 and other Acts feed into health-related decisions. The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) sits in the federal background, with the Queensland Act careful to interface with federal family proceedings without duplicating them.

The interstate transfer regime in Chapter 7 governs corresponding laws of other States and Territories, with administrative transfers under Part 2 Division 2 and judicial transfers under Division 3, and inbound transfers under Part 3.

The SCAN system under Chapter 5A coordinates information sharing between the chief executive, Queensland Health, Queensland Police Service, the Department of Education and other prescribed entities, with information sharing under Part 4 and protection from liability under Part 6.

The mandatory reporting duty in section 13E covers only physical or sexual abuse, not all forms of harm. Practitioners who mistakenly believe the duty extends to all suspected harm may contravene the form requirement of section 13G or report material the Act does not require. Conversely, practitioners who confine the duty to actual abuse may miss the "unacceptable risk of suffering significant harm" element, which is sufficient.

Mandatory reporting is triggered only where the relevant person forms the suspicion in the course of their engagement as a relevant person. Off-duty observations can fall outside the section.

The publication offence in section 99ZG carries serious individual liability (100 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment) and corporate liability (1,000 penalty units). Media organisations covering tribunal proceedings should treat all participant identities as protected by default.

Cross-state transfer of an order under Chapter 7 requires both administrative or judicial mechanisms and registration in the receiving jurisdiction; failure to register an inbound order leaves the order unenforceable in Queensland under section 99ZG-related publication and in subsequent court proceedings.

The Childrens Court's procedural rules in Chapter 3 are not the standard Magistrates Court rules. Practitioners should consult the Childrens Court rules and practice directions for filing, service and hearing-day requirements.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander placement principles and prescribed delegate provisions in Chapter 4 Part 2A are mandatory considerations. Decisions that fail to engage prescribed delegates may be reviewable by QCAT under Chapter 2A.

A general practitioner who, during a consultation, forms a reasonable suspicion that a child has suffered significant harm caused by physical abuse and may not have a parent able and willing to protect the child must give a written report to the chief executive under section 13G. The doctor's protection from civil and criminal liability for making the report sits in the Act's protection-from-liability provisions.

A teacher in a Queensland State school who has reasonable grounds to suspect sexual abuse of a child by a household member must report under section 13E. The "in the course of engagement" test covers school-time observations and school-related communications.

A foster carer whose household composition changes (a new adult moves in) must report the change under section 141G; failure to notify exposes the carer to a 100 penalty units maximum.

A licensed care service whose nominee changes a personal history particular must notify the chief executive under section 141H. The chief executive may consider whether the licence should be amended, suspended or cancelled.

The Federal Court has been a forum for class actions relating to historical removals of First Nations children. In Gunning v State of Queensland [2025] FCA 83 and the prior Gunning [2024] FCA 889 the Court considered the consequences of the removal of First Nations children from their parents by the State of Queensland, pursuant to the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld), in the period between March 1992 and November 2023. Discovery in those proceedings extended to child safety documents created or referred to over the relevant period.

A media outlet wishing to publish information about a tribunal proceeding under Chapter 2A must observe section 99ZG; publication of evidence given before the tribunal or information likely to identify a person attracts up to 1,000 penalty units (corporate) or 100 penalty units / 2 years imprisonment (individual).

QCAT is the responsible tribunal under Chapter 2A. Tribunal proceedings sit in Part 2. The child's participation is governed by Part 3, including arrangements for the child to be a party or to be represented. Medical examinations are addressed in Part 4. Parties are identified under Part 5. Confidentiality (including section 99ZG non-publication) is in Part 6. Part 7 ensures tribunal decisions and recommendations are given effect by the chief executive and other actors. Appeals from Childrens Court decisions are in Chapter 3 Part 4. Interstate transfer of orders is governed by Chapter 7. Child death reviews under Chapter 7A operate independently of the disciplinary or court pathways but may inform them.