New Queensland scheme fast-tracked to protect children in childcare

A system to protect Queensland children in childcare will be fast-tracked by the state government.

Under the planned reportable conduct scheme, child safety complaints about individuals will be centralised.

The system was due to come online next year, with all childcare centres told to comply by July 2027 as part of a staged rollout.

That timeline will now be brought forward by 12 months to July 2026, Nine News Queensland confirmed on Wednesday.

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“I have every belief that if this system was in place, [serial paedophile] Ashley Paul Griffith would have been intercepted earlier,” Premier David Crisafulli told the broadcaster.

“This system is going to be the best in the country.”

Queensland is one of the last states to implement the system, which was recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2017.

Crisafulli also said he would ask for a ban on childcare workers using their personal phones at work to be explored by an ongoing inquiry due to report by the end of the year.

It comes amid significant pressure on governments across the country to reform the childcare system, after multiple high-profile cases of abuse and neglect were revealed.

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