The short consultation document accompanying the announcement two days ago states
A National Public Register would make certain information about registered child sex offenders available on a central, searchable public website. For example, the website could include a convicted offender’s name, aliases, date of birth, photo, physical description, general locality, general nature of offending and period of registration.
A National Public Register would be hosted by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, with offender information provided by Australian law enforcement agencies.
How are convicted child sex offenders currently registered?
The Australian Child Protection Offender Reporting Scheme requires convicted child sex offenders to keep police informed of their whereabouts and other personal details for a period of time after they are released into the community. Child sex offenders are registered under state and territory offender registration legislation. The period of registration ranges from 8 years to life registration and is generally based on the seriousness of the convicted offence(s) and other considerations such as multiple or repeat offending.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission hosts the National Child Offender System, which allows Australian law enforcement agencies to record and share registered child sex offender information for case management purposes. Information about registered child sex offenders on the National Child Offender System is not available to the public.
Some Australian jurisdictions have expanded their non-public registration of child sex offenders to publicly release offender information in limited circumstances. For example, the Western Australia Community Protection website provides information to the public about dangerous and high risk sex offenders. South Australia Police publish information about registered child sex offenders who have failed to report to the police, have provided false or misleading information to the police, and who are missing.
Why is a national approach needed?
There is no nationally consistent approach to public registration of child sex offenders. Except in jurisdictions with limited public registration, parents, families and other concerned individuals are currently not aware if the people living in their communities and potentially having unsupervised contact with their children are convicted child sex offenders.
This lack of consistency and transparency means parents, employers and other concerned citizens are not able to make informed decisions and take effective precautions to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Establishing a National Public Register is intended to enhance community safety and protect children from sexual abuse by deterring offenders, raising public awareness and enabling concerned citizens to be more vigilant about the potential risks posed by offenders in their communities.
A consistent national approach is critical to ensure nationwide community protection by preventing child sex offences from occurring and protecting children from harm. The Australian Government encourages all Australian jurisdictions to support a nationally consistent approach to public registration of child sex offenders.
Consultation process
The Australian Government will consult all Australian jurisdictions and key non-government stakeholders to gather feedback on the preliminary model for a National Public Register. Key questions for consultation are at [below].
The consultation process will help to ensure a National Public Register is practical to implement and effective in improving community safety and protection. If you wish to participate in the consultation process on a National Public Register, please email childexploitation@homeaffairs.gov.au prior to 11 January 2019.
Following the consultation process, the Australian Government will work with all Australian states and territories to finalise the model for a National Public Register, on the basis of feedback received.The 'Preliminary model for consultation' is
A National Public Register would make certain information about registered child sex offenders available on a public website. The model for a National Public Register will depend on feedback and outcomes from the consultation process. To facilitate discussion, a preliminary model for a National Public Register is outlined below.
Types of offenders
- Registered child sex offenders (i.e. convicted of serious, multiple or repeat child sex offences and subsequently registered under the Australian Child Protection Offender Reporting Scheme) would appear on a National Public Register post-sentence.
- Information about child sex offenders would appear on a National Public Register for the period of time the offender is registered under legislation.
- Information about juvenile child sex offenders would not be made public while the offender remains under the age of 18.
Public information
- All information on a National Public Register would be available to any member of the public on a searchable public website.
- Information on a National Public Register could include an offender’s name, aliases, date of birth, photo, physical description, general locality (for example, postcode), general nature of offending and period of registration.
- All information would be quality assured and vetted by Australian law enforcement agencies prior to publication, to ensure it is accurate, does not identify victims of child sexual abuse and is consistent with any existing non-publication court orders.
Legislation
- Legislation in all jurisdictions may require amendment to enable information about registered child sex offenders to be published on a National Public Register.
Systems
- The Australian Government would fund the development of the National Public Register ICT solution, hosted by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
- Information about registered child sex offenders would be extracted from the National Child Offender System to the public-facing website.
Timeframes
- The Australian Government is committed to progressing the development of a final model for a National Public Register as a priority.
The 'Key questions for consultation' are
- Timeframes for implementing a National Public Register are dependent on the need for legislative reform and development of the ICT solution.
- Does your organisation support public registration of registered child sex offenders?
- What legislative, systems and resourcing implications would a National Public Register have on responsible agencies?
- What are the timeframes associated with any required legislative and systems changes?
- What are the legal implications associated with a National Public Register?
- What are the privacy implications associated with a National Public Register?
- What is required to ensure data quality and accuracy of information on a National Public Register?
- Are the types of offenders proposed to appear on a National Public Register (i.e. registered child sex offenders) appropriate?
- Are there exceptional categories of offenders that should be exempted from publication on a National Public Register?
- Is the proposed length of time for publication of information about a child sex offender on a National Public Register appropriate?
- What categories of information about registered child sex offenders should be published on a National Public Register?
- What categories of information about registered child sex offenders should be excluded from publication on a National Public Register?
- How should the effectiveness of a National Public Register be assessed?
- Are there other options that should be pursued for publication of child sex offender information?
