Responsibilities of the head of the entity

Who is the head of a reporting entity?

The Act creates obligations for the head of a reporting entity in relation to reportable conduct. 

The head of a reporting entity is defined in the Act in a way that broadly captures people who are responsible for the leadership of a reporting entity and have the highest authority over service delivery. In simple terms, the head of a reporting entity is the organisation’s predominant leader. Determining who this is depends on the reporting entity’s structure, legal obligations and governance arrangements. 

The head of a reporting entity may include: 

• the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or equivalent position; if there is no CEO, then the principal officer of the entity
• the Chief Executive of a public sector entity
• the Director-General for Queensland Government departments
• Commissioner of the QPS
• the principal leader of a religious group or place of worship.

If a reporting entity does not have a CEO, principal officer, or equivalent, the head of the reporting entity will be a person or holder of a position within the reporting entity approved by the Commission. 

Regulation may also prescribe a person or holder of a position to be a head of a reporting entity.

While the head of a reporting entity is responsible for complying with requirements under the Act, including having systems in place and meeting reporting obligations, the legislation does not expect heads of reporting entities to meet these responsibilities alone. The Act enables the head of a reporting entity to delegate functions under the Reportable Conduct Scheme to an appropriately qualified person, while retaining overall responsibility for compliance.

Responsibilities of the head of a reporting entity

The head of a reporting entity is the person who is responsible for the entity’s compliance with the Reportable Conduct Scheme. 

The head of the reporting entity is required to have a system in place:

• to prevent reportable conduct by workers in the workplace, enacted through the Child Safe Standards
• that enables anyone to report concerns of reportable conduct to the head of the reporting entity and to the Commission
• to investigate reportable allegations and reportable convictions.

If a reporting entity receives a report about reportable conduct, the head of the reporting entity or a delegate must (unless you have a reasonable excuse):

• notify the Commission of the report within three business days of the head of the entity or delegate becoming aware of the allegation or conviction
• as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the report about a reportable allegation or reportable conviction, ensure an investigation is conducted and notify the Commission that the investigation is being conducted
• provide the Commission with an interim report within 30 business days of becoming aware of the allegation or conviction
• provide the Commission with a final report that includes the investigation findings as soon as practicable.

The reporting entity may also have existing requirements to report to sector regulators, QPS or another body. These obligations exist in addition to, and separately from, your obligation to report to the Commission in compliance with the Act. 

The Reportable Conduct Scheme does not change these existing reporting requirements. Reporting entities are encouraged to consider how to streamline reporting and investigation obligations in collaboration with the Commission.