Item 2026-12F App J Child Protection Policy

 WHAT'S THIS ABOUT

Recent Qld government legislation requires some changes to the association minimum standards.

 

DISCUSSION

Queensland Cricket has requested all Clubs and Associations develop their processes to ensure compliance with the new Qld Govt standards and our staff continue to follow up compliance actions being taken by Clubs particularly in relation to volunteers having Blue Cards.

Associations may as a result of undertaking risk assessments decide to enforce some of these standards on their Clubs – ie. all coaches & managers of teams participating in their competitions must be registered in PlayHQ & show evidence of having blue cards to the Association, Clubs need to have processes in place for ensuring change rooms etc are safe (posters up on walls etc), likewise for procedures around taking photos of games and teams where children are present and consent may not have been given for such an activity. The Qld Government standards are very detailed and go on to stipulate that organisations should be engaging children in consultation on safety and processes, our expectation is that this activity should be done by Clubs given players are registered to Clubs directly and not to Associations.

The following resources are of use when trying to understand the scope & breadth of the changes that
 have now come into effect via the Qld Govt legislation.

1. https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/childsafe/standards/resources - some key documents that provide essential resources

2. https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/guideline-cso-quick-reference-guide.pdf - Qld Govt quick reference guide – Pages 6&7 are helpful

3. https://play.cricket.com.au/community/resources/player-safety/child-safety?#learn – CA’s Page on Child Safety

4. https://www.qldcricket.com.au/support/safeguarding-children-and-young-people? – Qld Cricket’s Page on Child Safety

5. https://www.playrugbyleague.com/safety/nrl/ - The NRL are quite advanced in their adoption and implementation of the policy being a winter sport and their website is a good example of the type of information QSDCA should include on their website

6. https://lifesaving.com.au/child-safe – Surf Lifesaving Qld are another organisation that’s been doing a lot of work in this space, some excellent examples of how they are getting the message across to their membership base via posters & policies

We don’t fully understand how the Qld Government is going to police and check on compliance and how much time they will give Clubs & Associations to get organised with their adoption and implementation of the new standards, we don’t know if there will be a grace period as such. We do know many organisations are struggling with the sheer scale of some of the requirements, even the ones listed above – not everyone has worked out how to adopt all that’s being asked and just who is responsible for what.

(Big thanks to Andrea Pullar at QC for doing the work on Item 2026-12F.)

 

PROPOSAL

The specific details in the new J2, J3 and J6 might be better referred to in the Playing Regulations Appendix in generic terms so that any changes to legislation or policy can be accommodated without the need to adjust the Playing Regulations (by Notice of Motion at an AGM.) (Or to put it another way... we do not need to make rules about what we cannot control.)

OLD REGULATIONS	What does this mean?/Why does it need change?	PROPOSED NEW REGULATION
Appendix J CHILD PROTECTION POLICIES Applies to All Competitions		Appendix J CHILD PROTECTION POLICIES Applies to All Competitions
J1 Cricket Australia's most up to date Safeguarding Children and Young People policy will be adopted subject to a QSDCA Management Committee motion.	At the time of the 2025 AGM the latest Australian Cricket Policy was yet to be released.  It has been subsequently released and adopted by this association.	J1 QSDCA endorses and adopts:   Australian Cricket’s Policy for Safeguarding Children and Young People,   Australian Cricket’s ‘Looking After Our Kids’ Code of Behaviour, and  Australian Cricket’s Commitment to Safeguarding Children and Young People,  effective as at July 2025.
	This added clause commits the association to new 2025 Qld government legal requirements.	J2 QSDCA endorses and adopts the: Queensland Government Child Safe Standards and Universal Principal, contained within the Child Safe Organisations Act and introduced in June 2025.
J2 Policy, Member Protection Declaration form, Links to online Child Protection Training, Instructions on Reporting Allegations or Concerns of Child Abuse, QSDCA Member Protection Information Officer contact, Links to Australian Cricket Child Safety Officer Toolkit can be found at https://qsdca.com.au/12-safeguarding-children-and-young-people/	Renumbered.  This is a rewrite of the old J2 with more specific details listed. Part of the rquirement for the adoption of the CA Child Protection policies requires display of these standards and information on a public website.  It becomes a "go to" reference point for information about QSDCA's commitment to up to date policy measures.	J3 The following documentation relating to QSDCA’s implementation of the Safeguarding Children and Young People policy and the Qld Government Child Safe Standards & Universal Principal can be found here - https://qsdca.com.au/12-safeguarding-children-and-young-people/ • Cricket Australia Safeguarding Children & Young People Policy • Cricket Australia ‘Looking After our Kids’ Code of Behaviour • QSDCA Child Safety Officer Information • Cricket Australia Child Safety Response, Complaint Handling & Looking After our Kids in Senior Cricket processes as adopted by QSDCA • Cricket Australia E-learning module for recognising and reporting abuse • Queensland Cricket Child Safeguarding Support Resources
BLUE CARDS		BLUE CARDS
J3 Volunteers need a blue card if their work in sport includes, or is likely to include, providing services that are directed mainly towards children, or conducting activities that mainly involve children, unless an exemption applies.	Renumbered	J4 Volunteers need a blue card if their work in sport includes, or is likely to include, providing services that are directed mainly towards children, or conducting activities that mainly involve children, unless an exemption applies.
J4 Required information can be found at http://www.bluecard.qld.gov.au/	Renumbered	J5 Required information can be found at http://www.bluecard.qld.gov.au/
J5 QSDCA maintains an online Blue Card Register database with Blue Card Services for all volunteers’ Blue Cards.	Renumbered. More specific details added.	J6 QSDCA will maintain an online Blue Card Register database via the portal with Blue Card Services for all QSDCA Committee members, volunteers and umpires. Blue Cards.
J6 QSDCA maintains a no card, no start policy for all those who work for the association including umpires, committee members and office bearers.	Renumbered	J7 QSDCA maintains a no card, no start policy for all those who work for the association including umpires, committee members and office bearers.

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CLICK to go back to INTRODUCTION         ABM 10-Jul-2026

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