Queensland to Introduce Daniel’s Law: Shocking New Child Sex Offender Register to Expose Paedophiles Hiding from Police
- Named after murdered teenager Daniel Morcombe, the law will create a website listing reportable offenders who fail to comply with their obligations or hide from police.
- Parents and carers will be able to apply to the police to find out if an adult having unsupervised contact with their child is a reportable offender.
- Three new offences have been introduced to act as a strong deterrent against vigilante behaviour, with penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
In a groundbreaking move, Queensland is set to pass Daniel’s Law, a landmark legislation that will establish a public child sex offender register, exposing paedophiles who fail to comply with their obligations or hide from police.
The new register, named in honour of Daniel Morcombe, the Sunshine Coast teenager abducted and murdered by a twice-convicted paedophile in 2003, will enable three tiers of information to be disclosed to the public.
Under the law, a government website will be set up, listing the photos and personal details of reportable offenders who fail to comply with their obligations or hide from police. Queensland residents will be able to apply to view images of sex offenders in their local area, while parents and carers will be able to apply to the police to find out if an adult having unsupervised contact with their child is a reportable offender.
Daniel’s mother, Denise Morcombe, has been campaigning for 15 years to help keep children safe, and has welcomed the legislation. “We can’t go back in the past and remove what happened to Daniel, but this is something that can protect children in the future,” she said.
Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has hailed the register as a vital tool in investigations. “If you are an offender in that space, think about what you are doing because we will be better equipped to be able to address that and prevent that,” he warned.
Police Minister Dan Purdie has introduced three new offences around prohibiting the misuse of information accessed or obtained from the public register, with penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment. “I cannot stress highly enough that vigilantism will not be tolerated,” he said.
However, critics, including the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) and Legal Aid Queensland (LAQ), have raised concerns about the effectiveness of the law, citing studies that show similar laws in the US have not reduced sex-offence recidivism or prevented sexual offending in the general community.
Despite these concerns, the legislation is expected to pass state parliament today, marking a major step forward in protecting Queensland’s children from child sex offenders.