What is the Reportable Conduct Scheme
The Reportable Conduct Scheme requires organisations to report and investigate allegations of child abuse and misconduct by their workers. It requires organisations to take all concerns seriously and respond appropriately.
The scheme requires organisations to complete an investigation in response to concerns about a worker’s behaviour towards children and record the outcomes in a way that can be shared with other organisations to prevent harm to children. The scheme plays a critical role in identifying behaviour that is concerning but doesn’t reach the threshold for a police response.
The scheme is designed to connect information across organisations, regulators and sectors to identify people who present a risk to the safety of children.
What is reportable conduct?
Reportable conduct includes:
- a child sexual offence
- sexual misconduct committed in relation to, or in the presence of a child
- ill-treatment of a child
- significant neglect of a child
- physical violence committed in relation to, or in the presence of a child
- behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm to a child.
Learn more about what constitutes reportable conduct on our Types of reportable conduct webpage.
Reportable conduct may be one or a series of acts. It does not need to have occurred as part of the worker’s employment – conduct that occurs while the worker is off duty or out of hours is still reportable.
Who needs to comply?
The scheme applies to businesses and organisations that care for, supervise or exercise authority over children. Sectors that need to comply are listed in the Child Safe Organisations Act 2024. These businesses and organisations are known in the law as reporting entities, which is a term used across our website and in our guidance.
Find out who needs to comply with the scheme.
Who can an allegation be made about?
A concern can be raised about any worker of an organisation that is required to comply with the Reportable Conduct Scheme.
A worker is a person who performs work of any kind for the organisation, including employees in all capacities, volunteers, contractors, subcontractors, consultants, labour-hire workers, trainees and work experience employees, and religious leaders.
What are organisations required to do?
Organisations need to have systems in place:
- to prevent reportable conduct by workers in the workplace, enacted through the Child Safe Standards
- that enable anyone to report concerns of reportable conduct to the head of the organisation and to us
- to investigate reportable conduct.
The head of the organisation is typically the chief executive officer or equivalent position. The head of the organisation can delegate their functions to an appropriately qualified person. If your organisation doesn’t have a chief executive officer, we will approve the person who needs to lead these activities.
If your organisation receives a report about reportable conduct, the head of your organisation is required to:
- notify us of the report within three business days
- provide us with an interim report within 30 business days
- provide us with a final report including the investigation findings as soon as practicable.
Failure to notify and provide reports to the Commission can result in the head of an organisation receiving a fine of almost $17,000.
The Reportable Conduct Scheme does not replace any existing reporting requirements, such as mandatory reporting or sector-specific reporting.
Find our implementation resources for organisations that need to implement the Reportable Conduct Scheme.
Our role
We are the independent regulator responsible for administering, monitoring and enforcing the Reportable Conduct Scheme across Queensland.
We ensure organisations investigate reportable conduct concerns properly.
We review an organisation’s interim and final reports to ensure organisations:
- followed lawful, fair and child-safe investigation processes
- ensured the best interests of the child at the centre of decision-making
- take appropriate and timely steps to minimise ongoing risk to children.
Our role is to support organisations through this process and to provide support where required.
We may intervene if we are concerned about capacity, timeliness, quality or independence, or if there are serious child safety concerns requiring immediate action.
We do not approve, endorse or recommend any independent investigators. If you choose to use an independent investigator, you are responsible for checking that they have the appropriate experience.
Our functions and powers under the law are further detailed in our Regulatory approach.