“Daniel’s Law honours the legacy of Daniel Morcombe and recognises the tireless advocacy of Bruce and Denise Morcombe in striving for a safer future for all children,” a spokesperson said.
“Residents are reminded Daniel’s Law is designed to protect children, not to encourage harmful behaviour.
A screenshot from the Daniel’s Law website at 11.15am on December 31.
“Information disclosed under Daniel’s Law must only be used to keep children safe. Vigilante behaviour, harassment, intimidation, or public shaming will not be tolerated and may result in prosecution.”
Similar laws are in place in Western Australia, but it has more restricted register access.
A registry proposed in South Australia will charge people to access it, unlike Queensland.
Sex offenders are listed under three different tiers on the website, with Purdie saying all three tiers would be published on Wednesday.
Tier one includes sex offenders who have gone underground and do not comply with their reporting obligations. Information includes a photograph, date of birth, physical description, name and known aliases.
Tier two covers repeat or highly dangerous sex offenders and Queenslanders can make a request to be given the photograph of an offender living in their postcode and adjoining postcodes.
Under tier three, parents and guardians can make a request to check whether a specific person, who has regular unsupervised contact with their child, is a registered sex offender.
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Purdie said on Tuesday a demonstration of the register last week was successful.
Additional staff, including police detectives, would be on hand over the new year period to help process requests and inquiries.
“We don’t really know what sort of volume it’ll be,” Purdie said, speaking about the potential influx of visitors to the website.
“Obviously every parent, as I am – not only a parent but also a former child abuse detective – it’s information that we believe people should be armed with, and we encourage them to get on and have a look and put protective strategies in place to protect their young people.”
The introduction of the register has not been without controversy, with concerns raised about vigilantism.
Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said the new law could do more harm than good, as offenders’ names are often concealed to protect their victims.
How Queensland’s public sex offender register will work
Queenslanders will be able to access the information through a three-tiered disclosure framework:
- Tier 1: A public website listing reportable offenders who have breached obligations and whose whereabouts are unknown to police. The offenders full name, photograph and year of birth will be accessible by members of the public.
- Tier 2: An online application for Queensland residents to view photographs of reportable offenders living in their local area.
- Tier 3: An online application for parents and guardians to check if a person who has had, or will have, unsupervised contact with their child is a reportable offender.
To ensure register information is not misused, three new offences have been introduced with penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment for acts of vigilantism.
with AAP
Anyone needing support can contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028, Lifeline 13 11 14, and Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
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