If your business or organisation works with children in Queensland, or provides services or spaces for them, you need to be preparing for Queensland’s new child safeguarding law—the Child Safe Organisations Act (the Act). It aims to protect Queensland children from harm when they interact with businesses or organisations.
Under this law, businesses and organisations will need to introduce 10 Child Safe Standards and the Universal Principle, starting from 1 October 2025, and some will be required to implement a Reportable Conduct Scheme, starting from 1 July 2026.
These two parts work together: the Standards aim to prevent harm to children, and the Reportable Conduct Scheme enables an appropriate response if harm or misconduct happens or is reported.
Not sure where to start? Here are a few steps to get you moving.
Step 1: Familiarise yourself with the Child Safe Standards
In implementing the Standards, you’ll also need to provide an environment that promotes and upholds the right to cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children—this is known in the law as the Universal Principle. Cultural safety means making Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people feel genuinely welcome, safe, valued, included and respected.
Step 2: Start to make changes
The next step is to get started. Remember that every business and organisation will be at a different stage in its journey to becoming child safe—and that’s OK. How you implement the Child Safe Standards is intended to be flexible and tailored to the specifics of your organisation – what kind of work you do, who with, and how often.
- Complete our Self-Assessment Tool to see where you are on your journey to becoming child safe. This will help you develop an action plan to guide your journey.
- Look at our detailed Guidelines for implementation for more ideas, including starting points for conversations within your business or organisation to help build collective understanding and bring everyone along on your journey. We also have a Quick Reference Guide, which is ideal for small businesses, sole traders, and community and volunteer groups.
- Visit our Training hub and Resources webpage for material to support you to on your journey.
Step 3: Ensure staff and volunteers have a current Blue Card
The Child Safe Organisations law doesn’t change the requirement for staff and volunteers to hold a current Blue Card (Queensland’s Working With Children Check). Each person’s Blue Card has to be linked to your organisation through the Blue Card system. Find out who needs a card, and what your organisation needs to do, on the Blue Card website.
If your organisation works with children with disability (including but not exclusive to NDIS providers), staff and volunteers may also require a disability worker screening card, also known as a Yellow Card. You can find information about this on the Disability Worker Screening website.
Ensuring your staff and volunteers have a Blue Card is just one aspect to being a child safe organisation.
Step 4: Make sure your key documents are in place and up to date
Consider whether the policies and procedures you have in place adequately prevent harm to children. The below list is not exhaustive, and you may need other documents or resources, depending on how your organisation interacts with children.
As a starting point, however, you should have a:
- public commitment statement to children’s safety and wellbeing
- child safety and wellbeing policy
- code of conduct
- complaint handling policy
- child and youth risk management plan.
You can find more information about each of these documents on our Resources webpage.
Step 5: Keep track and keep going
You can use this webpage to help you keep track of these introductory steps and which ones you still need to take.
Set a plan or schedule to regularly review your policies and practices and evaluate whether they need improvement or further consultation. This should involve consultation with the children and families you interact with.
Last updated
16 September 2025
