New legislation is to result in the Queensland having the longest child sex offender monitoring periods of any state in Australia.
According to the Minister for Police, Mark Ryan, the laws will double the amount of time a first-time child sex offender is subject to police monitoring and reporting.
Mr Ryan said that under the new regime, the monitoring period for first-time offenders will be 10 years, compared with five years previously.
In addition, the monitoring period for repeat offenders will also double to 20 years, while the most serious child sex offenders will be monitored for life.
Mr Ryan said the reforms would reverse the actions of the previous Government that caused Queensland to become the jurisdiction with the shortest monitoring periods for child sex offenders overnight.
“As a consequence, the police oversight and monitoring suddenly ceased for more than 1,700 child sex offenders,” Mr Ryan said.
“Now, our reforms will establish the longest, strongest, most comprehensive monitoring laws in relation to child sex offenders in the nation.”
He said child sex offenders were among the most heinous of all, and they deserved to be subject to the longest, strongest and strictest monitoring and reporting regime in the nation.
“The community can be assured that in addition to these tough new laws, our world-class police service, including the internationally-acclaimed Taskforce Argos and the Queensland Police Service’s Child Abuse and Sexual Crime Group, are relentless in targeting those who do harm to the most vulnerable members of society,” Mr Ryan said.
“These new laws will continue to support the efforts of Queensland’s hard-working police to keep Queensland children safe,” he said.
