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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
CHILD CARE AMENDMENT
BILL 2000
Queensland
CHILD CARE AMENDMENT BILL 2000
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Amendment of s 3 (Definitions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 Amendment of s 4 (Objects of Act) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
6 Amendment of s 41 (Application for review of chief executive's
decisions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
7 Insertion of new pt 8A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
PART 8A--INDEPENDENT HOME-BASED CARE
Division 1--Preliminary
73A Definitions for pt 8A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Division 2--Restrictions applying to independent home-based care
73B Disqualified person must not provide care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
73C Homes in which care must not be provided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
73D Carers must be adults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
73E Maximum numbers of children receiving care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
73F Public liability insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Division 3--Monitoring and disqualifications
73G Criminal history checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
73H Disqualification of person charged with disqualifying offences . . . . 10
73I Checks about insurance cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
73J Notification about a person's disqualification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
73K Checks on age of carers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
8 Amendment of s 75 (Disclosure of criminal history) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2
Child Care Amendment
9 Insertion of new s 82A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
82A Advertising that unlicensed care is registered or approved . . . . . . . 15
SCHEDULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
MINOR AMENDMENTS
2000
A BILL
FOR
An Act to amend the Child Care Act 1991
s1 4 s6
Child Care Amendment
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
title 2
Short
Clause 1. This Act may be cited as the Child Care Amendment Act 2000. 3
4
Commencement
Clause 2. This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 5
amended 6
Act
Clause 3. This Act amends the Child Care Act 1991. 7
of s 3 (Definitions) 8
Amendment
Clause 4. Section 3-- 9
insert-- 10
` "independent home-based care" see section 73A.'. 11
of s 4 (Objects of Act) 12
Amendment
Clause 5. Section 4(1)-- 13
insert-- 14
`(i) to establish minimum safeguards for the provision of independent 15
home-based care.'. 16
of s 41 (Application for review of chief executive's 17
Amendment
decisions) 18
Clause 6. Section 41(1)-- 19
insert-- 20
`(i) to give a person a prohibition notice under section 73H;'. 21
s7 5 s7
Child Care Amendment
of new pt 8A 1
Insertion
Clause 7. After section 73-- 2
insert-- 3
`PART 8A--INDEPENDENT HOME-BASED CARE 4
`Division 1--Preliminary 5
for pt 8A 6
`Definitions
`73A. In this part-- 7
"carer" means a person providing independent home-based care. 8
"disqualified person" means a person-- 9
(a) with a conviction for a disqualifying offence; or 10
(b) for whom a prohibition notice is in force. 11
"disqualifying offence" means-- 12
(a) an offence against the Criminal Code, part 4 or 5;1 or 13
(b) an offence against the repealed Children's Services Act 1965, 14
section 69(1) or (1A);2 or 15
(c) an offence against a law outside Queensland that, if committed in 16
Queensland, would be an offence against a law mentioned in 17
paragraph (a) or (b). 18
"guardian", of a child, means any of the following persons-- 19
(a) a person who is recognised in law as having all the duties, 20
powers, responsibilities and authority in relation to the child that, 21
1 Criminal Code, part 4 (Acts injurious to the public in general) or 5 (Offences
against the person and relating to marriage and parental rights and duties and
against the reputation of individuals)
2 Children's Services Act 1965, section 69 (Offences in relation to the health of
children)
s7 6 s7
Child Care Amendment
by law, parents have in relation to their children;3 1
(b) a person who has custody or guardianship of the child under a 2
court order; 3
(c) a carer of the child under the Child Protection Act 1999; 4
(d) a person who is entitled to the care and custody of the child under 5
the Adoption of Children Act 1964. 6
"home" means residential premises. 7
"independent home-based care" means care provided by a person to a 8
child in the course of an independent home-based care service, but 9
does not include-- 10
(a) care of a child of whom the person is a relative or guardian; or 11
(b) care of a child in the child's home. 12
"independent home-based care service" means an operation conducted 13
for regularly providing care of 1 or more children in a home, for 14
reward, but does not include-- 15
(a) an operation to provide child care under a licence; or 16
(b) an operation principally conducted to provide instruction in a 17
particular activity, for example, dance, music or a sport; or 18
(c) a licensed care service under the Child Protection Act 1999. 19
"parent", of a child, includes-- 20
(a) for any child--the spouse or de facto spouse of a parent of the 21
child; and 22
(b) for an Aboriginal child--a person who, under Aboriginal 23
tradition, is regarded as a parent of the child; and 24
(c) for a Torres Strait Islander child--a person who, under Island 25
custom, is regarded as a parent of the child. 26
"prohibition notice" means a notice, given under division 3, prohibiting a 27
person from providing independent home-based care. 28
3 See the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth), part 7 (Children), division 2 (Parental
responsibility).
s7 7 s7
Child Care Amendment
"relative", of a child-- 1
(a) means the child's parent, grandparent, great grandparent, brother, 2
sister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew or cousin; and 3
(b) for an Aboriginal child, includes a person who, under Aboriginal 4
tradition, is regarded as a relative mentioned in paragraph (a); and 5
(c) for a Torres Strait Islander child, includes a person who, under 6
Island custom, is regarded as a relative mentioned in 7
paragraph (a); and 8
(d) for a child with a parent who is not a natural parent, includes 9
anyone who would be a relative mentioned in paragraph (a) if the 10
parent were a natural parent. 11
12
Example--
13
The daughter of a child's step-parent is a relative of the child.
2--Restrictions applying to independent home-based care 14
`Division
person must not provide care 15
`Disqualified
`73B. A disqualified person must not provide independent home-based 16
care. 17
Maximum penalty-- 18
(a) for a person with a conviction for a disqualifying offence or for 19
whom a prohibition notice given under section 73G or 73H is in 20
force--100 penalty units; or 21
(b) otherwise--50 penalty units. 22
in which care must not be provided 23
`Homes
`73C. A person (the "first person") must not provide independent 24
home-based care at a home if-- 25
(a) another person who ordinarily resides in the home is a 26
disqualified person; and 27
s7 8 s7
Child Care Amendment
(b) the first person knows, or ought reasonably to know, the other 1
person is a disqualified person. 2
Maximum penalty-- 3
(a) if the other person is a person with a conviction for a 4
disqualifying offence or a person for whom a prohibition notice 5
given under section 73G or 73H is in force--100 penalty units; or 6
(b) otherwise--50 penalty units. 7
must be adults 8
`Carers
`73D.(1) A person must not conduct an independent home-based care 9
service for which any of the carers is a child. 10
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 11
`(2) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (1) to 12
prove the person sighted reasonable evidence that the relevant carer was an 13
adult. 14
numbers of children receiving care 15
`Maximum
`73E.(1) This section applies to a person while the person is providing 16
independent home-based care at a home. 17
`(2) The person must not care, at one time, for-- 18
(a) more than 6 children of less than 12 years; or 19
(b) more than 4 children of less than 6 years. 20
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 21
`(3) For subsection (2), the number of children for whom the person is 22
caring at a particular time-- 23
(a) does not include the person's own children who are at least 24
6 years; but 25
(b) otherwise-- 26
(i) includes all of the children the person is caring for at the 27
time, even if the care being provided to some of the children 28
by the person is not independent home-based care; and 29
s7 9 s7
Child Care Amendment
(ii) includes all the children at the home being provided with 1
independent home-based care at the time, even if some of the 2
care is being provided by someone else. 3
4
Examples--
5
In each of the following examples, all of the children are less than 12 years and
6
are being cared for at someone's home.
7
1. At a particular time, X is caring for 7 children, all of whom are relatives.
8
X is not contravening subsection (2)(a).
9
2. At a particular time, X is caring for 7 children, all of whom are relatives.
10
At the same time, X is also providing independent home-based care for
11
1 other child. None of the children is X's own child. X is contravening
12
subsection (2)(a).
13
3. At a particular time, X is providing independent home-based care for
14
6 children. At the same time, X is providing care for 2 of X's own
15
children, both of whom are more than 6 years. X is not contravening
16
subsection (2)(a).
17
4. At a particular time, X is providing independent home-based care for
18
6 children. At the same time, X is providing care for 2 of X's own
19
children, one of whom is less than 6 years. X is contravening
20
subsection (2)(a).
21
5. At a particular time, X is providing independent home-based care for
22
5 children. At the same time, X is caring for 2 other children, for which X
23
does not receive any reward. None of the children is X's own child. X is
24
contravening subsection (2)(a).
25
6. At a particular time, X and Y are providing independent home-based care
26
for 7 children at X's home. X is mainly caring for 3 of the children and Y
27
is mainly caring for the other 4 children. Both X and Y are contravening
28
subsection (2)(a).
29
7. At a particular time, X is providing independent home-based care for
30
3 children at X's home. Y is also at X's home caring for 4 of Y's own
31
children. X is not caring for Y's children. Neither X nor Y is
32
contravening subsection (2)(a).
liability insurance 33
`Public
`73F. A person must not provide independent home-based care unless 34
the person ensures there is a policy of public liability insurance, for at least 35
s7 10 s7
Child Care Amendment
$5 million, in force for the care. 1
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 2
3--Monitoring and disqualifications 3
`Division
history checks 4
`Criminal
`73G.(1) An authorised person may ask someone (the "respondent") 5
who is an adult to give a written consent to a criminal history check if the 6
authorised person knows, or reasonably suspects, that the respondent-- 7
(a) is providing, or from time to time provides, independent 8
home-based care; or 9
(b) ordinarily resides in a home at which independent home-based 10
care is provided. 11
`(2) The consent must be given by completing and signing the approved 12
form. 13
`(3) When asking for the consent, the authorised person must warn the 14
respondent that, if the respondent does not give the consent, the authorised 15
person must give the respondent a prohibition notice. 16
`(4) If the respondent refuses to give the consent, the authorised person 17
must give the respondent a prohibition notice. 18
`(5) The chief executive must cancel the prohibition notice if-- 19
(a) the respondent later gives the consent; and 20
(b) the chief executive does not learn, by conducting a criminal 21
history check, that the respondent has a conviction for a 22
disqualifying offence; and 23
(c) the chief executive does not decide to disqualify the respondent 24
under section 73H. 25
of person charged with disqualifying offences 26
`Disqualification
`73H.(1) This section applies if-- 27
(a) the chief executive conducts a criminal history check of a person 28
s7 11 s7
Child Care Amendment
who has given consent under this division; and 1
(b) the person does not have a conviction for a disqualifying offence 2
but has, at any time, been charged with a disqualifying offence. 3
`(2) The chief executive may give the person a prohibition notice if the 4
chief executive is satisfied it is an exceptional case in which it would not be 5
in the best interests of children for independent home-based care to be 6
provided by the person or provided at the home in which the person 7
ordinarily resides. 8
`(3) In making a decision about a person under subsection (2), the chief 9
executive must have regard to-- 10
(a) the number of charges in the person's criminal history; and 11
(b) for each of the charges-- 12
(i) the seriousness of the offence and its relevance to the 13
provision of independent home-based care; and 14
(ii) when the offence was alleged to have been committed; and 15
(iii) whether the person was convicted, found guilty or acquitted, 16
or whether the prosecution process ended in another way or 17
has not ended. 18
`(4) Before giving a person a prohibition notice under this section, the 19
chief executive-- 20
(a) must give the person a written notice-- 21
(i) stating the information about the person's criminal history, 22
relating to each disqualifying offence, of which the chief 23
executive is aware; and 24
(ii) inviting the person to give the chief executive, within a stated 25
time, a submission about the information or about the 26
appropriateness of independent home-based care being 27
provided by the person or provided at the home in which the 28
person ordinarily resides; and 29
(b) must consider any submission received from the person within 30
the stated time. 31
s7 12 s7
Child Care Amendment
`(5) The time stated for giving the submission must be reasonable and, in 1
any case, at least 7 days after the chief executive gives the notice to the 2
person. 3
about insurance cover 4
`Checks
`73I.(1) If an authorised person knows, or reasonably suspects, someone 5
(the "respondent") is providing independent home-based care, the 6
authorised person may ask the respondent to produce to the authorised 7
person, within a stated time of at least 2 business days, an insurance 8
compliance document relating to the care. 9
`(2) When making the request, the authorised person must warn the 10
respondent that, if the respondent fails to comply with the request, the 11
authorised person must give the respondent a prohibition notice. 12
`(3) If the respondent fails to comply with the request, the authorised 13
person must give the respondent a prohibition notice. 14
`(4) If the respondent later produces an insurance compliance document 15
relating to the care, the chief executive must cancel the prohibition notice 16
given because of the failure and notify the respondent of the cancellation. 17
`(5) In this section-- 18
"insurance compliance document", relating to independent home-based 19
care, means a document evidencing that there is a policy of public 20
liability insurance, mentioned in section 73F,4 in force for the care. 21
about a person's disqualification 22
`Notification
`73J.(1) Subsection (2) applies if-- 23
(a) a person (the "first person") is a disqualified person; and 24
(b) an authorised person knows, or reasonably suspects, that another 25
person (the "second person") ordinarily resides in, or provides 26
independent home-based care at, the home in which the first 27
person ordinarily resides. 28
4 Section 73F (Public liability insurance)
s7 13 s7
Child Care Amendment
`(2) The authorised person may notify the second person that the first 1
person is a disqualified person. 2
`(3) If, after the second person is notified, the first person stops being a 3
disqualified person, the authorised person must notify the second person as 4
soon as practicable unless, after reasonable inquiries, the authorised person 5
can not locate the second person. 6
on age of carers 7
`Checks
`73K.(1) This section applies if an authorised person reasonably 8
suspects-- 9
(a) an independent home-based care service is being conducted in 10
contravention of section 73D;5 and 11
(b) someone (the "respondent")-- 12
(i) is a carer in the service; and 13
(ii) is not an adult. 14
`(2) The authorised person may-- 15
(a) require the respondent to state the respondent's age; and 16
(b) if the respondent states an age that the authorised person 17
reasonably suspects is false, require the respondent to give 18
evidence of the correctness of the stated age within a stated 19
reasonable time. 20
`(3) When making a requirement under subsection (2), the authorised 21
person must warn the respondent that, if the respondent fails to comply with 22
the requirement, the authorised person must give the respondent a 23
prohibition notice. 24
`(4) If the respondent fails to comply with the requirement, the authorised 25
person must give the respondent a prohibition notice. 26
`(5) If the respondent later complies with the requirement, the chief 27
executive must cancel the prohibition notice given because of the failure and 28
notify the respondent of the cancellation.'. 29
5 Section 73D (Carers must be adults)
s8 14 s9
Child Care Amendment
of s 75 (Disclosure of criminal history) 1
Amendment
Clause 8.(1) Section 75(1)-- 2
insert-- 3
`(i) a person who consents to a criminal history check under 4
section 73G.6'. 5
(2) Section 75(2), after `a person'-- 6
insert-- 7
`mentioned in subsection (1)(a) to (h)'. 8
(3) Section 75-- 9
insert-- 10
`(2A) The criminal history of a person mentioned in subsection (1)(i) 11
consists of the following-- 12
(a) each charge made against the person for a disqualifying offence; 13
(b) whether the person was convicted, found guilty or acquitted of the 14
offence, or whether the prosecution process ended in another way 15
or has not ended; 16
(c) the date, and a brief description of the circumstances, of each 17
conviction or charge for a disqualifying offence.'. 18
(4) Section 75-- 19
insert-- 20
`(4) In this section-- 21
"disqualifying offence" has the meaning given in section 73A.'. 22
of new s 82A 23
Insertion
Clause 9. After section 82-- 24
insert-- 25
6 Section 73G (Criminal history checks)
s9 15 s9
Child Care Amendment
that unlicensed care is registered or approved 1
`Advertising
`82A.(1) This section applies if-- 2
(a) a person advertises that the person provides, or is willing to 3
provide, care of children, or holds himself or herself out as 4
providing, or being willing to provide, care of children; and 5
(b) the care is not child care provided under a licence. 6
`(2) In the advertisement or in the course of the holding out, the person 7
must not make a false or misleading statement about the extent to which, or 8
the way in which-- 9
(a) the person is registered or approved by a government entity to 10
provide the care; or 11
(b) the care is approved by a government entity. 12
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 13
`(3) In this section-- 14
"government entity" means the State, the Commonwealth or a department 15
of government or agency of the State or the Commonwealth.'. 16
17
16
Child Care Amendment
SCHEDULE 1
¡
MINOR AMENDMENTS 2
section 3 3
1. Section 3, definitions "approved panel" and "chief executive"-- 4
omit. 5
2. Section 14(2)(b), `association'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`association--'. 8
3. Section 35(7), penalty-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`Maximum penalty for subsection (7)--10 penalty units.'. 11
4. Section 62(4), penalty-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Maximum penalty for subsection (4)--10 penalty units.'. 14
5. Section 75, `Commissioner of Police'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`commissioner of the police service'. 17
6. Section 79, `local authority'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`local government'. 20
17
Child Care Amendment
SCHEDULE (continued)
7. Section 82(5), penalty-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`Maximum penalty for subsection (5)--40 penalty units.'. 3
8. Section 84, heading-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`Regulation-making power'. 6
© State of Queensland 2000
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