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Queensland
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Queensland
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Contents
Page
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introduction
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4 Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Part 2 Purpose and principles of Act
5 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6 Principles for adults with impaired capacity for a matter . . . . . . . 15
7 Principles for relevant children and children staying at visitable sites 15
Part 3 Relationship with other Acts
8 Relationship with Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 and
Powers of Attorney Act 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 2 Public guardian
9 Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
10 Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
11 Functions--general . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
12 Functions--adult with impaired capacity for a matter. . . . . . . . . . 18
13 Functions--relevant child, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
14 Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
15 Not under Ministerial control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 1 Preliminary
16 Overview of ch 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
17 Definitions for ch 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Part 2 Advice and supervision
18 Public guardian may give advice and impose supervision . . . . . . 23
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Contents
Part 3 Investigations
19 Investigate complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
20 Delegate for investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
21 Records and audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
22 Right to information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
23 Information by statutory declaration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
24 Protection from liability for giving information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
25 Witnesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
26 Power of court if noncompliance with attendance notice . . . . . . . 30
27 Power of court if failure to cooperate under subpoena . . . . . . . . . 30
28 Self-incrimination not a reasonable excuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
29 Cost of investigations and audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
30 Obstructing investigation or audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
31 Report after investigation or audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
32 Prohibited use of report after investigation or audit . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Part 4 Protective powers
33 Proceedings for protection of property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
34 Suspension of attorney's power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
35 Exercise of power during suspension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
36 Power to apply for entry and removal warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
37 Health providers may advise public guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Part 5 Power to consent to forensic examination
38 Consent to forensic examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Part 6 Community visitor program (adult)
Division 1 Interpretation
39 Definitions for pt 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Division 2 Purpose
40 Purpose and allocation of community visitors (adult) . . . . . . . . . . 40
Division 3 Functions
41 Inquiry and complaint functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
42 Requirement to regularly visit visitable site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
43 Requirement to visit visitable site if asked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Division 4 Powers
44 Power to do all things necessary or convenient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
45 Public guardian may authorise access outside normal hours . . . 43
46 Consumer's views and wishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
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47 Reports by community visitors (adult) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
48 Public guardian's directions about the exercise of powers . . . . . . 45
Division 5 Miscellaneous
49 Privacy of correspondence between community visitor (adult) and
consumers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 4 Provisions relating to relevant children and children staying
at visitable sites
Part 1 Preliminary
50 Overview of ch 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
51 Definitions for ch 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
52 When is a child a relevant child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
53 Who is a parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
54 Child's views and wishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Part 2 Community visitor program (child)
Division 1 Purpose
55 Purpose and allocation of community visitors (child) . . . . . . . . . . 51
Division 2 Functions
56 Functions of community visitor (child), etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
57 Requirement to visit children under care in visitable homes . . . . 53
58 Requirement to regularly visit visitable site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
59 Requirement to visit visitable home or communicate if asked . . . 54
60 Requirement to visit visitable site or communicate if asked . . . . . 55
Division 3 Powers
Subdivision 1 Visitable homes
61 Power of entry--visitable home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
62 Consent to entry--visitable home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
63 Application for warrant--visitable home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
64 Issue of warrant--visitable home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
65 Warrants--procedure before entry to visitable home . . . . . . . . . . 59
66 Powers relating to visitable homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Subdivision 2 Visitable sites
67 Power of entry--visitable site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
68 Public guardian may authorise access to visitable site outside
normal hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Subdivision 3 General
69 Community visitor (child) to respect privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
70 Reports by community visitors (child). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
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71 Public guardian's directions about the exercise of powers . . . . . . 63
Division 4 Miscellaneous
72 Privacy of correspondence between community visitor (child) and
children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Part 3 Child advocacy officers
Division 1 Functions
73 Functions of child advocacy officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Division 2 Powers
74 Power of entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
75 Public guardian may authorise access to visitable site outside
normal hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
76 Powers in relation to staff members of visitable sites . . . . . . . . . . 66
77 Consent to entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
78 Application for warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
79 Issue of warrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
80 Warrants--procedure before entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
81 Powers relating to places where child is staying . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
82 Child advocacy officer to respect privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Part 4 Information exchange
83 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
84 Prescribed entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
85 Information requirement made by public guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
86 Use of information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
87 Chief executive (child safety) to advise public guardian when child
is subject to particular orders, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
88 Making information available to prescribed entities . . . . . . . . . . . 74
89 Making information available for Child Protection Act . . . . . . . . . 74
90 Protection from liability for giving information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
91 Interaction with other laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Chapter 5 Administration
Part 1 Appointment of public guardian and related provisions
92 Appointment of public guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
93 Public guardian employed under this Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
94 Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
95 Term of office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
96 Conditions of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
97 Vacancy in office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
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98 Preservation of rights of public guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
99 Acting public guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Part 2 Office and staff of the public guardian
100 Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
101 Control of the office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
102 Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
103 Consultation and employment of professionals, etc. . . . . . . . . . . 81
Part 3 External contractors
104 Engaging external contractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
105 Acts applying to external contractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
106 Review of external contractor's performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Part 4 Appointment of community visitors and child advocacy
officers and related provisions
107 Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
108 Eligibility for appointment as community visitor (adult). . . . . . . . . 85
109 Eligibility for appointment as community visitor (child) . . . . . . . . . 86
110 Eligibility for appointment as child advocacy officer . . . . . . . . . . . 87
111 Duration of appointment as community visitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
112 Terms of appointment of community visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
113 Limitation of powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
114 Identity card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
115 Failure to return identity card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
116 Production or display of identity card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Part 5 Assessing suitability of persons to be engaged in particular
employment
117 Person seeking to be engaged by the public guardian must
disclose criminal history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
118 Investigations about suitability of applicant to be community visitor
or child advocacy officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
119 Community visitor or child advocacy officer to disclose change in
criminal history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
120 Failing to make disclosure or making false, misleading or
incomplete disclosure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
121 Person to be advised of information obtained from commissioner
of the police service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
122 Use of information obtained under this part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
123 Guidelines for dealing with information obtained under this part 94
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Part 6 Other provisions
124 Annual report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
125 Not a statutory body for particular Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Chapter 6 General
Part 1 Tribunal provisions (child)
126 Meaning of reviewable decision for pt 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
127 References to public guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
128 Right to appear, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
129 Tribunal to advise public guardian of hearing relating to child
protection matters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
130 Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
131 Public Guardian may apply for review of reviewable decisions . . 99
Part 2 Evidence and legal proceedings
132 Proof of status as relevant child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
133 Evidentiary provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
134 Proceeding for offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
135 When proceeding may start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Part 3 False or misleading statements or documents
136 False or misleading statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
137 False or misleading documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Part 4 Confidentiality
138 Confidentiality of information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
139 Confidentiality of information given by persons involved in
administration of Act to other persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
140 Disclosure of information about investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
141 Disclosure by public guardian of information for research purposes 105
Part 5 Miscellaneous
142 Complaints agency or other government service provider to
inform public guardian about actions taken for complaint. . . . . . . 105
143 Protection from liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
144 Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
145 Approved forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
146 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
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Chapter 7 Transitional provisions
Part 1 Transitional provisions for repealed sections of the
Commission for Children and Young People and Child
Guardian Act 2000
147 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
148 References to repealed sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
149 Repealed s 90 (Requirement to visit visitable site or communicate
if asked) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
150 Repealed s 91 (Requirement to visit visitable home or
communicate if asked) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
151 Repealed s 92 (Report after each visit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
152 Repealed s 93 (Functions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
153 Repealed s 97 (Issue of warrant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
154 Repealed s 107 (Appointment). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
155 Repealed s 111 (Failure to return identity card) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
156 Repealed s 370 (Commissioner may apply for review of
reviewable decisions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
157 Transitional regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Part 2 Transitional provisions for the Guardianship and
Administration Act 2000
158 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
159 References to adult guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
160 References to repealed sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
161 Public guardian is successor in law of adult guardian . . . . . . . . . 116
162 Repealed s 173 (Adult guardian) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
163 Repealed s 177 (Delegation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
164 Repealed s 178 (Consultation and employment of professionals) 118
165 Repealed s 179 (Advice and supervision) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
166 Repealed s 180 (Investigate complaints) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
167 Repealed s 181 (Delegate for investigation). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
168 Repealed s 182 (Records and audit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
169 Repealed s 183 (Right to information) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
170 Repealed s 184 (Information by statutory declaration). . . . . . . . . 120
171 Repealed s 185 (Witnesses) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
172 Repealed s 186 (Power of court if noncompliance with attendance
notice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
173 Repealed s 189 (Cost of investigations and audits) . . . . . . . . . . . 120
174 Repealed s 193 (Report after investigation or audit) . . . . . . . . . . 121
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175 Repealed s 194 (Proceedings for protection of property). . . . . . . 122
176 Repealed s 195 (Suspension of attorney's power) . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
177 Repealed s 197 (Power to apply for entry and removal warrant) . 122
178 Repealed s 206 (Annual report) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
179 Repealed s 224 (Functions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
180 Repealed s 226 (Requirement to visit if asked) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
181 Repealed s 228 (Chief executive may authorise access outside
normal hours) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
182 Repealed s 230 (Reports by community visitors). . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
183 Repealed s 230A (Investigations about suitability of applicant to
be community visitor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
184 Repealed s 231 (Appointment). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
185 Repealed s 232 (Duration of appointment) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
186 Repealed s 236 (Failure to return identity card) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
187 Repealed s 237 (Annual report by chief executive) . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 1 Amendment of this Act
188 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
189 Amendment of long title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Part 2 Amendment of Child Protection Act 1999
190 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
191 Insertion of new s 40A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
40A Public guardian to be notified, under an arrangement,
of applications etc. for orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
192 Amendment of s 51L (Who should be involved) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
193 Amendment of s 51W (Who may participate). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
194 Insertion of new s 55A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
55A Public guardian to be notified, under an arrangement,
of applications etc. for orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
195 Amendment of s 70 (Attendance of parties). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
196 Amendment of s 74 (Charter of rights for a child in care). . . . . . . 129
197 Amendment of s 99B (Definitions for ch 2A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
198 Replacement of s 99F (Review applications by children's
commissioner) ..................................... 130
99F Review applications by public guardian . . . . . . . . . . . 130
199 Amendment of s 99J (Proceedings relating to this Act must usually
be held in private) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
200 Amendment of s 99P (Review applications on behalf of children) 130
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201 Insertion of new ss 108B-108D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
108B Right of appearance of public guardian . . . . . . . . . . . 131
108C Public guardian's role at hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
108D Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
202 Amendment of s 113 (Court may hear submissions from
non-parties to proceeding) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
203 Insertion of new s 189AA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
189AA Making information available for Public Guardian Act
2014 ................................. 133
204 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Part 3 Amendment of Commission for Children and Young People
and Child Guardian Act 2000
205 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
206 Omission of ch 5 (Community visitors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
207 Omission of ch 10, pt 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
208 Omission of ss 391 and 392. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
209 Amendment of sch 7 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Part 4 Amendment of Corrective Services Act 2006
210 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
211 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Part 5 Amendment of Disability Services Act 2006
212 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
213 Amendment of s 123E (Definitions for pt 10A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
214 Amendment of s 123I (Requirement to keep and implement a
policy) ........................................ 136
215 Amendment of s 123O (Containing or secluding an adult under
short term approval) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
216 Amendment of s 123ZK (Short term approval for use of restrictive
practices other than containment or seclusion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
217 Amendment of s 123ZZF (Notification requirements about
approvals given for use of restrictive practices) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
218 Amendment of s 168 (Chief executive may advise people with a
disability and others of action taken in relation to funded
non-government service providers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
219 Amendment of sch 7 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Part 6 Amendment of Domestic and Family Violence Protection
Act 2012
220 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
221 Amendment of s 163 (Notification of adult guardian) . . . . . . . . . . 139
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222 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Part 7 Amendment of Forensic Disability Act 2011
223 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
224 Amendment of s 26 (Who is allied person if client does not have
capacity to choose) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Part 8 Amendment of Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
225 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
226 Amendment of long title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
227 Amendment of s 7 (Way purpose achieved). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
228 Insertion of new s 7A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
7A Relationship with Public Guardian Act 2014. . . . . . . . 141
229 Amendment of various sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
230 Amendment of s 80ZJ (Adult guardian's decision about whether
to approve short term plan) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
231 Omission of ch 8 (Adult guardian) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
232 Omission of ch 10 (Community visitors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
233 Amendment of s 246 (Definitions for pt 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
234 Amendment of s 247 (Whistleblowers' protection) . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
235 Amendment of s 248 (Protection from liability if honest and not
negligent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
236 Amendment of s 248A (Protection for person carrying out forensic
examination with consent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
237 Amendment of s 248B (Protection from liability for giving
information) ................................... 145
238 Amendment of s 249 (Protected use of confidential information). 145
239 Omission of s 250 (Disclosure of information about investigations) 145
240 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Part 9 Amendment of Health Ombudsman Act 2013
241 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
242 Amendment of s 30 (Cooperation with other entities) . . . . . . . . . 146
243 Amendment of sch 1 (Amendment of particular Acts) . . . . . . . . . 146
Part 10 Amendment of Integrity Act 2009
244 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
245 Amendment of sch 1 (Statutory office holders for section 72C) . . 147
Part 11 Amendment of Mental Health Act 2000
246 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
247 Amendment of s 342 (Who is allied person if patient does not
have capacity to choose allied person) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
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Contents
248 Amendment of s 349 (Interfering with postal articles for patients
in high security units) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
249 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Part 12 Amendment of Ombudsman Act 2001
250 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
251 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Part 13 Amendment of Powers of Attorney Act 1998
252 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
253 Amendment of s 6A (Relationship with Guardianship and
Administration Act 2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
254 Insertion of new s 6B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6B Relationship with Public Guardian Act 2014. . . . . . . . 149
255 Amendment of s 29 (Meaning of eligible attorney) . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
256 Amendment of s 63 (Who is the statutory health attorney) . . . . . 150
257 Amendment of s 74 (Protected use of confidential information). . 150
258 Amendment of s 85 (Keep records) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
259 Amendment of s 110 (Application and participation) . . . . . . . . . . 150
260 Amendment of s 121 (Report by adult guardian or public trustee) 150
261 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Part 14 Amendment of Public Service Act 2008
262 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
263 Amendment of sch 1 (Public service offices and their heads) . . . 151
Part 15 Amendment of Public Trustee Act 1978
264 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
265 Amendment of s 63A (Adult guardian resources) . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Part 16 Amendment of Residential Services (Accreditation) Act
2002
266 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
267 Amendment of s 177 (Matters arising under other Acts) . . . . . . . 153
Part 17 Amendment of Right to Information Act 2009
268 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
269 Amendment of sch 2 (Entities to which this Act does not apply) . 154
Part 18 Amendment of Youth Justice Act 1992
270 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
271 Amendment of s 272 (Ordinary visitor). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
272 Amendment of s 277 (Complaints generally) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
273 Amendment of s 282J (Complaints generally) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
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Contents
274 Amendment of s 307 (Evidence) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
275 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Schedule 1 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Page 12
2014
A Bill
for
an Act to provide for a Public Guardian to promote and protect
the rights and interests of adults with impaired capacity for a
matter, relevant children and children staying at visitable sites,
and to amend this Act, the Child Protection Act 1999, the
Commission for Children and Young People and Child
Guardian Act 2000, the Corrective Services Act 2006, the
Disability Services Act 2006, the Domestic and Family Violence
Protection Act 2012, the Forensic Disability Act 2011, the
Guardianship and Administration Act 2000, the Health
Ombudsman Act 2013, the Integrity Act 2009, the Mental Health
Act 2000, the Ombudsman Act 2001, the Powers of Attorney Act
1998, the Public Service Act 2008, the Public Trustee Act 1978,
the Residential Services (Accreditation) Act 2002, the Right to
Information Act 2009 and the Youth Justice Act 1992 for
particular purposes
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introduction
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Chapter 1 Preliminary 2
Part 1 Introduction 3
1 Short title 4
This Act may be cited as the Public Guardian Act 2014. 5
2 Commencement 6
(1) This Act, other than sections 241 and 243, commences on 1 7
July 2014. 8
(2) Sections 241 and 243 commence on assent. 9
3 Definitions 10
The dictionary in schedule 1 defines particular words used in 11
this Act. 12
4 Act binds all persons 13
This Act binds all persons, including the State, and, so far as 14
the legislative power of the Parliament permits, the 15
Commonwealth and the other States. 16
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 2 Purpose and principles of Act
[s 5]
Part 2 Purpose and principles of Act 1
5 Purpose 2
The purpose of this Act is to establish the public guardian to 3
promote and protect the rights and interests of-- 4
(a) adults with impaired capacity for a matter; and 5
(b) relevant children and children staying at visitable sites. 6
6 Principles for adults with impaired capacity for a matter 7
(1) The principles to be applied by persons performing functions 8
or exercising powers under this Act for a matter in relation to 9
an adult with impaired capacity for the matter are stated in the 10
Guardianship Act, schedule 1 (the general principles and, for 11
a health matter or a special health matter, the health care 12
principle). 13
(2) Persons performing functions or exercising powers under this 14
Act for a matter in relation to an adult with impaired capacity 15
must also have regard to the acknowledgements stated in the 16
Guardianship Act, section 5 when performing the functions or 17
exercising the powers. 18
7 Principles for relevant children and children staying at 19
visitable sites 20
(1) The main principle to be applied by persons performing 21
functions or exercising powers under this Act in relation to a 22
relevant child or a child staying at a visitable site is that the 23
best interests of the child are paramount. 24
(2) The persons must also apply the following general principles 25
when performing functions or exercising powers under this 26
Act in relation to the child-- 27
(a) the child's family has primary responsibility for the 28
child's upbringing and development and should be 29
supported in that role; 30
Page 15
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 3 Relationship with other Acts
[s 8]
(b) the child is a valued member of society; 1
(c) the child is-- 2
(i) to be treated in a way that respects the child's 3
dignity and privacy; and 4
(ii) to be cared for in a way that protects the child from 5
harm, promotes the child's wellbeing and allows 6
the child to reach his or her full potential; 7
(d) the child's emotional, moral, social and intellectual 8
development is important and must be taken into 9
account; 10
(e) the child is entitled to be heard, even if others may not 11
agree with the views expressed by the child; 12
(f) the child should be able to exercise his or her rights and 13
participate in decisions that affect his or her life; 14
(g) the child should be able to access available services 15
necessary to meet his or her needs; 16
(h) an ongoing relationship between the child and the 17
child's family is important for the child's welfare and 18
wellbeing and must be taken into account; 19
(i) an ongoing connection with the child's culture, 20
traditions, language and community is important for the 21
child's welfare and wellbeing and must be taken into 22
account. 23
Part 3 Relationship with other Acts 24
8 Relationship with Guardianship and Administration Act 25
2000 and Powers of Attorney Act 1998 26
(1) This Act, to the extent it relates to an adult with impaired 27
capacity for a matter, is to be read in conjunction with the 28
Guardianship Act and the Powers of Attorney Act. 29
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 3 Relationship with other Acts
[s 8]
(2) The Guardianship Act provides a scheme by which the 1
tribunal may do the following-- 2
(a) appoint a guardian for an adult with impaired capacity 3
for personal matters to make particular decisions and do 4
particular other things for the adult in relation to the 5
matters; 6
(b) appoint an administrator for an adult with impaired 7
capacity for financial matters to make particular 8
decisions and do particular other things for the adult in 9
relation to the matters; 10
(c) consent to the withholding or withdrawal of a 11
life-sustaining measure and to particular special health 12
care. 13
(3) The Guardianship Act also provides a scheme for health care 14
for adults with impaired capacity for the matter concerned, 15
including an order of priority for dealing with health care. 16
(4) The Powers of Attorney Act provides a scheme by which-- 17
(a) by enduring power of attorney or advance health 18
directive, an adult may authorise other persons to make 19
particular decisions and do particular other things for 20
the adult in relation to financial matters and personal 21
matters at a time when the adult does not have capacity 22
to do those things; and 23
Note-- 24
Personal matters do not include special personal matters or 25
special health matters--Powers of Attorney Act, schedule 2, 26
section 2. 27
(b) by advance health directive, an adult may make 28
directions for the adult's future health care; and 29
(c) a statutory health attorney is authorised to do particular 30
things for an adult in particular circumstances in relation 31
to health care. 32
(5) If there is an inconsistency between this Act and the 33
Guardianship Act, the Guardianship Act prevails. 34
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 2 Public guardian
[s 9]
Chapter 2 Public guardian 1
9 Establishment 2
There must be a Public Guardian. 3
10 Role 4
(1) The public guardian's role in relation to adults who have 5
impaired capacity for a matter is to protect their rights and 6
interests. 7
(2) The public guardian's role in relation to relevant children and 8
children staying at a visitable site is to protect their rights and 9
interests. 10
11 Functions--general 11
The public guardian has the functions given to the public 12
guardian by this Act or another Act. 13
12 Functions--adult with impaired capacity for a matter 14
(1) The public guardian has the following functions (adult 15
guardian functions) in relation to an adult with impaired 16
capacity for a matter-- 17
(a) protecting the adult from neglect, exploitation or abuse; 18
(b) providing a program called the community visitor 19
program to protect the rights and interests of the adult if 20
the adult resides at a visitable site; 21
(c) investigating complaints and allegations about actions 22
by-- 23
(i) an attorney; or 24
(ii) a guardian or administrator; or 25
(iii) another person acting or purporting to act under a 26
power of attorney, advance health directive or 27
Page 18
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 2 Public guardian
[s 12]
order of the tribunal made under this Act or the 1
Guardianship Act; 2
(d) mediating and conciliating between attorneys, guardians 3
or administrators or between attorneys, guardians or 4
administrators and others, for example, health providers, 5
if the public guardian considers this appropriate to 6
resolve an issue; 7
(e) acting as attorney-- 8
(i) for a personal matter under an enduring power of 9
attorney; or 10
(ii) under an advance health directive; or 11
(iii) for a health matter if authorised as a statutory 12
health attorney; or 13
(iv) if appointed by the court or the tribunal; 14
(f) acting as guardian if appointed by the tribunal; 15
(g) approving, under the Guardianship Act, chapter 5B, part 16
4 the use of a restrictive practice (as defined under 17
section 80U of that Act) in relation to an adult to whom 18
that chapter applies; 19
(h) consenting to a forensic examination under section 38; 20
(i) seeking help (including help from a government agency, 21
or other institution, welfare organisation or provider of a 22
service or facility) for, or making representations for, an 23
adult with impaired capacity; 24
(j) educating and advising persons about, and conducting 25
research into, the operation of this Act, the 26
Guardianship Act and the Powers of Attorney Act. 27
(2) In this section-- 28
attorney means-- 29
(a) an attorney under a power of attorney; or 30
(b) an attorney under an advance health directive or similar 31
document under the law of another jurisdiction; or 32
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 2 Public guardian
[s 13]
(c) a statutory health attorney. 1
power of attorney means-- 2
(a) a general power of attorney made under the Powers of 3
Attorney Act; or 4
(b) an enduring power of attorney; or 5
(c) a power of attorney made otherwise than under the 6
Powers of Attorney Act, whether before or after its 7
commencement; or 8
(d) a similar document under the law of another 9
jurisdiction. 10
13 Functions--relevant child, etc. 11
(1) The public guardian has the following functions in relation to 12
a relevant child (child advocate functions)-- 13
(a) developing a trusting and supportive relationship with 14
the child, so far as is possible; 15
(b) providing advice and information to the child about 16
matters the child is concerned about; 17
(c) supporting the child at, and participating in-- 18
(i) conferences or mediations ordered or facilitated by 19
a court or the tribunal at which the child may 20
attend; or 21
(ii) family group meetings; or 22
(iii) any other meetings; 23
(d) helping the child to resolve issues or disputes with 24
others; 25
(e) monitoring any plan prepared for the child's health, 26
education or benefit to ensure it is being adhered to; 27
(f) working with government agencies that provide a 28
service or facility to the child and other non-government 29
providers of a service or facility to the child; 30
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 2 Public guardian
[s 13]
(g) seeking to resolve, with the chief executive (child 1
safety), disputes about reviewable decisions as defined 2
under section 126(1); 3
(h) helping the child to make an official complaint about a 4
matter to someone; 5
(i) helping the child to seek, or respond to, the revocation 6
or variation of an order made under, or taken to be an 7
order for, the Child Protection Act affecting the child; 8
(j) helping the child to initiate or, on the child's behalf, 9
initiating an application to the tribunal for review of a 10
child protection matter; 11
(k) helping a recognised entity to support the child in 12
referring a matter to the tribunal; 13
(l) supporting the child at a proceeding before a court or the 14
tribunal; 15
(m) for a proceeding before a court relating to a court 16
assessment order or child protection order--making 17
submissions, calling witnesses and testing evidence in 18
the proceeding, including by cross-examining 19
witnesses; 20
(n) for a proceeding before the tribunal relating to a child 21
protection matter--making submissions, calling 22
witnesses and testing evidence in the proceeding, 23
including by cross-examining witnesses. 24
(2) The public guardian also has the following additional 25
functions (also child advocate functions)-- 26
(a) for a child under care staying at a visitable home or a 27
child staying at a visitable site--providing a program 28
called the community visitor program for the child to 29
promote and protect the rights and interests of the child; 30
(b) for a child mentioned in the Child Protection Act, 31
section 74(1)--to help the child if the child considers 32
that the charter of rights set out in the Child Protection 33
Act, schedule 1 is not being complied with in relation to 34
the child. 35
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 2 Public guardian
[s 14]
(3) In this section-- 1
child protection order means a child protection order under 2
the Child Protection Act, chapter 2, part 4, including-- 3
(a) an order extending, varying or revoking a child 4
protection order; and 5
(b) a child protection order that continues in force-- 6
(i) under a transition order made under section 65A of 7
that Act; or 8
(ii) by operation of section 65A(4) of that Act; and 9
(c) an interim order under section 67 of that Act in relation 10
to a proceeding for a child protection order. 11
child under care see section 51. 12
court assessment order see the Child Protection Act, schedule 13
3. 14
visitable home see section 51. 15
visitable site see section 51. 16
14 Powers 17
(1) The public guardian has the powers given under this Act or 18
another Act, including the powers of a community visitor, or 19
child advocacy officer, given under this Act. 20
(2) Also, the public guardian may do all things necessary or 21
convenient to be done to perform the public guardian's 22
functions. 23
15 Not under Ministerial control 24
In performing the public guardian's functions and exercising 25
the public guardian's powers, the public guardian is not under 26
the control or direction of the Minister. 27
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 16]
Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults 1
with impaired capacity 2
Part 1 Preliminary 3
16 Overview of ch 3 4
This chapter contains provisions relating to the public 5
guardian's functions and powers for adults with impaired 6
capacity for a matter. 7
17 Definitions for ch 3 8
In this chapter-- 9
adult means an adult with impaired capacity for a matter. 10
power of attorney means-- 11
(a) a general power of attorney made under the Powers of 12
Attorney Act; or 13
(b) an enduring power of attorney; or 14
(c) a power of attorney made otherwise than under the 15
Powers of Attorney Act, whether before or after its 16
commencement. 17
Part 2 Advice and supervision 18
18 Public guardian may give advice and impose supervision 19
(1) The public guardian may do any of the following-- 20
(a) give advice to an adult's attorney, guardian or 21
administrator; 22
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 3 Investigations
[s 19]
(b) by written notice, make an adult's attorney, guardian or 1
administrator subject to the public guardian's 2
supervision for a reasonable period if the public 3
guardian believes, on reasonable grounds, it is necessary 4
in the adult's interests including, for example, because 5
the attorney, guardian or administrator has contravened 6
this Act, the Guardianship Act or duties, though not 7
wilfully; 8
(c) require an attorney who may exercise power for a 9
financial matter for an adult or an adult's administrator 10
to present a plan of management for approval. 11
(2) An adult's attorney, guardian or administrator may apply to 12
the tribunal to review the public guardian's decision relating 13
to the advice, notice or requirement and the tribunal may 14
make the order it considers appropriate. 15
(3) In this section-- 16
administrator, in relation to an adult, means the administrator 17
appointed for the adult under the Guardianship Act. 18
attorney, in relation to an adult, means the adult's attorney 19
authorised under an enduring document or the adult's 20
statutory health attorney. 21
guardian, in relation to an adult, means the guardian 22
appointed for the adult under the Guardianship Act. 23
Part 3 Investigations 24
19 Investigate complaints 25
The public guardian may investigate any complaint or 26
allegation that an adult-- 27
(a) is being or has been neglected, exploited or abused; or 28
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 3 Investigations
[s 20]
(b) has inappropriate or inadequate decision-making 1
arrangements. 2
20 Delegate for investigation 3
(1) If the public guardian decides to investigate a complaint or 4
allegation, the public guardian may delegate to an 5
appropriately qualified person the public guardian's powers 6
under this part, other than the power to give notice under 7
section 25(1) or 29. 8
(2) Subsection (1) does not affect the public guardian's authority 9
to delegate power to someone else under section 144. 10
(3) A delegate exercising power under this part must, if asked, 11
produce evidence of the delegation. 12
(4) If a delegate is given power to carry out an investigation, the 13
delegate must, after carrying out the investigation, make a 14
written report and give a copy of the report to the public 15
guardian. 16
(5) It is a lawful excuse for the publication of any defamatory 17
statement made in the report that the publication is made in 18
good faith and is, or purports to be, made for this Act. 19
(6) A delegate (other than a delegate who is a member of the 20
public guardian's staff) given power to carry out an 21
investigation is entitled to the remuneration decided by the 22
public guardian. 23
21 Records and audit 24
(1) The public guardian may, by written notice to an attorney for 25
an adult who has power for a financial matter or to an 26
administrator for an adult, require that, by the date stated in 27
the notice, the attorney or administrator file with the public 28
guardian a summary of receipts and expenditure, or more 29
detailed accounts of dealings and transactions, for the adult 30
for a specified period. 31
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Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 3 Investigations
[s 22]
(2) The date by which the summary or accounts must be filed 1
must be a date that the public guardian considers gives the 2
attorney or administrator reasonable time to comply with the 3
notice. 4
(3) The attorney or administrator must comply with the notice, 5
unless the attorney or administrator has a reasonable excuse. 6
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 7
(4) The summary or accounts filed may be audited by an auditor 8
appointed by the public guardian. 9
Note-- 10
See the Powers of Attorney Act, section 122 (Records and audit) which 11
gives the court similar power in relation to an attorney for a financial 12
matter. 13
(5) In this section-- 14
attorney means an attorney under an enduring power of 15
attorney. 16
22 Right to information 17
(1) The public guardian has a right to all information necessary to 18
investigate a complaint or allegation, or to carry out an audit, 19
in connection with an adult. 20
Note-- 21
In addition, the Powers of Attorney Act, section 81 (Right of attorney to 22
information) gives the public guardian a right to information as an 23
attorney. 24
(2) The public guardian may, by written notice given to a person 25
who has custody or control of the information, require the 26
person-- 27
(a) to give the information to the public guardian; and 28
(b) if the person is an attorney or administrator and the 29
information is contained in a document--to give the 30
document to the public guardian; and 31
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[s 23]
(c) if the person is not an attorney or administrator and the 1
information is contained in a document--to allow the 2
public guardian to inspect the document and take a copy 3
of it. 4
(3) The person must comply with the notice, unless the person 5
has a reasonable excuse. 6
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 7
(4) It is a reasonable excuse for a person not to comply with the 8
notice because complying with the notice might tend to 9
incriminate the person. 10
(5) Subject to subsection (4), this section overrides-- 11
(a) any restriction, in an Act or the common law, about the 12
disclosure or confidentiality of information; and 13
(b) any claim of confidentiality or privilege, including a 14
claim based on legal professional privilege. 15
(6) In this section-- 16
attorney means-- 17
(a) an attorney under a power of attorney; or 18
(b) an attorney under an advance health directive; or 19
(c) a statutory health attorney. 20
23 Information by statutory declaration 21
(1) If a person is required to give information to the public 22
guardian under this chapter, the public guardian may, by 23
written notice given to a person, require the person to give the 24
information by statutory declaration. 25
(2) The person must comply with the notice, unless the person 26
has a reasonable excuse. 27
Maximum penalty for subsection (2)--100 penalty units. 28
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Part 3 Investigations
[s 24]
24 Protection from liability for giving information 1
(1) This section applies to the giving of information to the public 2
guardian under section 22 or 23. 3
(2) A person may give the information despite any other law that 4
would otherwise prohibit or restrict the giving of the 5
information. 6
(3) If a person, acting honestly, gives the information to the public 7
guardian, the person is not liable, civilly, criminally or under 8
an administrative process, for giving the information. 9
(4) Also, merely because the person gives the information, the 10
person can not be held to have-- 11
(a) breached any code of professional etiquette or ethics; or 12
(b) departed from accepted standards of professional 13
conduct. 14
(5) Without limiting subsections (3) and (4)-- 15
(a) in a proceeding for defamation, the person has a defence 16
of absolute privilege for publishing the information; and 17
(b) if the person would otherwise be required to maintain 18
confidentiality about the information under an Act, oath 19
or rule of law or practice, the person-- 20
(i) does not contravene the Act, oath or rule of law or 21
practice by giving the information; and 22
(ii) is not liable to disciplinary action for giving the 23
information. 24
(6) In this section-- 25
giving, of information contained in a document, includes 26
allowing the document to be inspected and a copy to be taken 27
of it. 28
25 Witnesses 29
(1) For the performance of adult guardian functions, the public 30
guardian may, by written notice given to a person, require the 31
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Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 3 Investigations
[s 25]
person to attend before the public guardian at a stated time 1
and place to give information and answer questions, or 2
produce stated documents or things. 3
(2) The person must comply with the notice, unless the person 4
has a reasonable excuse. 5
Note-- 6
See section 28 (Self-incrimination not a reasonable excuse). 7
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 8
(3) The public guardian may-- 9
(a) require the person to take an oath; and 10
(b) administer an oath to the person, or, if technology 11
allowing reasonably contemporaneous and continuous 12
communication is to be used, make the arrangements the 13
public guardian considers appropriate in the 14
circumstances for administering an oath to the person; 15
and 16
(c) allow the person to give information by tendering a 17
written statement, verified, if the public guardian 18
directs, by oath. 19
(4) The person must comply with a requirement under subsection 20
(3)(a), unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 21
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 22
(5) The person is entitled to be paid by the public guardian an 23
amount equivalent to the amount the person would receive 24
under the Court Fees and Allowances Regulation if the 25
person's attendance before the public guardian were 26
attendance in a Magistrates Court as a witness. 27
(6) In this section-- 28
Court Fees and Allowances Regulation means a regulation 29
made under the Supreme Court of Queensland Act 1991 30
providing for the fees and allowances payable to witnesses 31
attending before a court. 32
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[s 26]
26 Power of court if noncompliance with attendance notice 1
(1) This section applies if, without reasonable excuse, a person 2
fails to comply with a notice given under section 25. 3
(2) A Magistrates Court, at the request of the public guardian, 4
may issue a subpoena requiring the attendance of the person 5
before the court. 6
(3) The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999, other than rules 7
417, 418 and 420, apply in relation to the subpoena. 8
Note-- 9
See the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999, chapter 11 (Evidence), 10
part 4 (Subpoenas) and rules 417 (Order for cost of complying with 11
subpoena), 418 (Cost of complying with subpoena if not a party) and 12
420 (Production by non-party). 13
(4) The court may require the person to take an oath. 14
(5) The public guardian may examine the person attending before 15
the court under a subpoena issued under subsection (2). 16
(6) In this section-- 17
subpoena means-- 18
(a) a subpoena for production; or 19
(b) a subpoena to give evidence; or 20
(c) a subpoena for production and to give evidence. 21
27 Power of court if failure to cooperate under subpoena 22
(1) This section applies if a person subpoenaed under section 26 23
attends before a Magistrates Court and without reasonable 24
excuse-- 25
(a) refuses to take an oath; or 26
(b) refuses to answer a question put to the person; or 27
(c) fails to give an answer to the court's satisfaction. 28
(2) The court may treat the person's refusal or failure as a 29
contempt of court. 30
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28 Self-incrimination not a reasonable excuse 1
(1) This section applies to-- 2
(a) a person who fails to comply with a notice under 3
subsection 25(1) to give information and answer 4
questions or to produce documents or things; or 5
(b) a person subpoenaed under section 26 who attends 6
before a Magistrates Court and refuses to answer a 7
question put to the person or fails to give an answer to 8
the court's satisfaction. 9
(2) It is not a reasonable excuse for the person to-- 10
(a) fail to comply with the notice; or 11
(b) refuse to answer the question or fail to give an answer to 12
the court's satisfaction; 13
because compliance with the notice, answering the question 14
or giving an answer to the court's satisfaction might tend to 15
incriminate the person. 16
(3) However, evidence of, or directly or indirectly derived from, 17
information given by a person or a person's answer or 18
production of a document or thing that might tend to 19
incriminate the person is not admissible in evidence against 20
the person in a civil or criminal proceeding, other than-- 21
(a) a proceeding for an offence about the falsity of the 22
information, answer, document or thing; or 23
(b) if the information, answer or production is relevant to 24
the person's employment--a proceeding brought by or 25
for the person against the person's employer; or 26
(c) if the information, answer or production is relevant to 27
the person's professional registration or licence--a 28
proceeding about the registration or licence; or 29
(d) if the information, answer or production is relevant to 30
the person's registration, licence or approval as 31
proprietor or operator of a service or facility involved in 32
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Part 3 Investigations
[s 29]
the care of adults with impaired capacity for a matter--a 1
proceeding about the registration, licence or approval. 2
29 Cost of investigations and audits 3
(1) If-- 4
(a) the public guardian undertakes an investigation 5
concerning a financial matter or an audit at the request 6
of a person; and 7
(b) the public guardian is satisfied the request was frivolous 8
or vexatious or otherwise without good cause; 9
the public guardian may, by written notice, require the person 10
to pay to the public guardian the amount the public guardian 11
considers appropriate for the cost of the investigation or audit. 12
(2) If-- 13
(a) the public guardian undertakes an investigation 14
concerning a financial matter or an audit; and 15
(b) the public guardian considers the attorney or 16
administrator concerned has contravened this Act, the 17
Guardianship Act or the Powers of Attorney Act; 18
the public guardian may, by written notice, require the 19
attorney or administrator to personally pay to the public 20
guardian the amount the public guardian considers 21
appropriate for the cost of the investigation or audit. 22
(3) The public guardian may, by written notice, require a person 23
who requests an investigation or audit to pay to the public 24
guardian the amount the public guardian considers 25
appropriate as security for a payment under subsection (1). 26
(4) A person given notice under this section may apply to the 27
tribunal to review the public guardian's decision to require the 28
payment, or the amount of the payment required, and the 29
tribunal may make the order it considers appropriate. 30
(5) In this section-- 31
attorney means an attorney under a power of attorney. 32
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[s 30]
30 Obstructing investigation or audit 1
(1) A person must not obstruct or improperly influence the 2
conduct of an investigation or audit. 3
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 4
(2) In this section-- 5
influence includes attempt to influence. 6
obstruct includes hinder, resist and attempt to obstruct. 7
31 Report after investigation or audit 8
(1) After the public guardian has carried out an investigation or 9
audit in relation to an adult, the public guardian must make a 10
written report and give a copy of the report to the person at 11
whose request the investigation or audit was carried out and to 12
every attorney, guardian or administrator for the adult. 13
(2) It is a lawful excuse for the publication of a defamatory 14
statement made in the report that the publication is made in 15
good faith and is, or purports to be, made for this Act. 16
(3) The public guardian must allow an interested person to 17
inspect a copy of the report at all reasonable times and, at the 18
person's own expense, to be given a copy of the report. 19
(4) If a report made by the public guardian contains information 20
about a person and the public guardian considers it 21
appropriate to protect the person's identity, the public 22
guardian may remove, from the copy of the report to be given 23
or inspected, information likely to result in the person's 24
identification. 25
(5) In this section-- 26
attorney means-- 27
(a) an attorney under a power of attorney; or 28
(b) an attorney under an advance health directive. 29
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32 Prohibited use of report after investigation or audit 1
(1) This section applies if-- 2
(a) a report contains information about a person but does 3
not identify the person (the de-identified person); and 4
(b) another person accesses the report. 5
(2) The other person must not, unless the other person has a 6
reasonable excuse, publish information contained in the report 7
to the public, or a section of the public, if the publication is 8
likely to result in the identification of the de-identified person 9
by a member of the public, or by a member of the section of 10
the public to whom the information is published. 11
Maximum penalty--200 penalty units. 12
(3) However, subsection (2) does not apply if the other person is a 13
person who has access to the report because of being, or an 14
opportunity given by being-- 15
(a) a relevant person; or 16
(b) the public guardian; or 17
(c) a member of the public guardian's staff; or 18
(d) an attorney; or 19
(e) a community visitor; or 20
(f) a person consulted or employed by the public guardian 21
for this Act; or 22
(g) a public guardian's delegate for an investigation. 23
Note-- 24
For the confidentiality requirements for a relevant person, see the 25
Guardianship Act, section 249A. For the confidentiality requirements 26
for an attorney, see the Powers of Attorney Act, section 74A. For the 27
confidentiality requirements for a person mentioned in paragraph (b), 28
(c), (e), (f) or (g), see section 138. 29
(4) In this section-- 30
attorney means-- 31
(a) an attorney under a power of attorney; or 32
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Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 4 Protective powers
[s 33]
(b) an attorney under an advance health directive; or 1
(c) a statutory health attorney. 2
relevant person see the Guardianship Act, section 246. 3
Part 4 Protective powers 4
33 Proceedings for protection of property 5
If the public guardian considers-- 6
(a) property of an adult is wrongfully held, detained, 7
converted or injured; or 8
(b) money is payable to the adult; 9
the public guardian, either in the name of the public guardian 10
or the adult, may claim and recover possession of the 11
property, damages for conversion of or injury to the property, 12
or payment of the money, by application to the Supreme 13
Court. 14
34 Suspension of attorney's power 15
(1) The public guardian may, by written notice to an attorney, 16
suspend the operation of all or some of an attorney's power 17
for an adult if the public guardian suspects, on reasonable 18
grounds, that the attorney is not competent. 19
(2) An attorney is not competent if, for example-- 20
(a) a relevant interest of the adult has not been, or is not 21
being, adequately protected; or 22
(b) the attorney has neglected the attorney's duties or 23
abused the attorney's powers, whether generally or in 24
relation to a specific power; or 25
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[s 35]
(c) the attorney has otherwise contravened this Act, the 1
Guardianship Act or the Powers of Attorney Act. 2
(3) The suspension may not be for more than 3 months. 3
(4) The public guardian may lift the suspension on the terms the 4
public guardian considers appropriate. 5
(5) The attorney whose power has been suspended may apply to 6
the tribunal to review the public guardian's decision to 7
suspend the attorney or the terms on which the suspension is 8
lifted and the tribunal may make the order it considers 9
appropriate. 10
(6) In this section-- 11
attorney means an attorney under an enduring document. 12
35 Exercise of power during suspension 13
(1) During the suspension of the operation of power of an 14
attorney, the attorney must not exercise the power. 15
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 16
(2) During the suspension of the operation of power of an 17
attorney for a personal matter, the public guardian is taken to 18
be the attorney for the adult for the exercise of the power. 19
(3) During the suspension of the operation of power of an 20
attorney for a financial matter, the public trustee is taken to be 21
the attorney for the adult for the exercise of the power. 22
36 Power to apply for entry and removal warrant 23
(1) This section applies if the public guardian considers there are 24
reasonable grounds for suspecting there is an immediate risk 25
of harm, because of neglect (including self neglect), 26
exploitation or abuse, to an adult. 27
(2) The public guardian may apply to the tribunal for a warrant 28
under the Guardianship Act, section 148 to enter a place and 29
to remove the adult. 30
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Part 4 Protective powers
[s 37]
37 Health providers may advise public guardian 1
(1) This section applies if a health provider who is treating a 2
person over the age of 18 reasonably considers-- 3
(a) the person has impaired capacity for a matter; and 4
(b) the person does not have an attorney, guardian or 5
administrator for the matter. 6
(2) The health provider may advise the public guardian of the 7
following details-- 8
(a) the person's name; 9
(b) the person's current location and contact address; 10
(c) the contact details for the person's nearest relative; 11
(d) the health provider's opinion about the person's 12
capacity. 13
(3) This section overrides-- 14
(a) any restriction, in an Act or under the common law, 15
about the disclosure or confidentiality of information; 16
and 17
(b) any claim of confidentiality or privilege. 18
(4) In this section-- 19
attorney means an attorney under an enduring document. 20
contact details, for a relative, means the relative's address and 21
telephone number or a way of contacting the relative. 22
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Part 5 Power to consent to forensic examination
[s 38]
Part 5 Power to consent to forensic 1
examination 2
38 Consent to forensic examination 3
The public guardian may consent to the forensic examination 4
of an adult with impaired capacity for consenting to the 5
examination if-- 6
(a) the public guardian reasonably considers the 7
examination is in the adult's best interests; and 8
(b) any of the following apply-- 9
(i) no guardian or attorney for the adult is appointed 10
or available to consent for the adult to the 11
examination; 12
(ii) any guardian or attorney for the adult who is 13
available has failed to consent; 14
(iii) the public guardian reasonably considers the 15
adult's interests would not be adequately protected 16
if the consent of any guardian or attorney for the 17
adult were sought. 18
Example of forensic examination that may be in an adult's best interests-- 19
a forensic examination to obtain evidence that a criminal offence has 20
been committed against the adult 21
Note-- 22
See also the Guardianship Act, section 248A (Protection for person 23
carrying out forensic examination with consent). 24
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Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 6 Community visitor program (adult)
[s 39]
Part 6 Community visitor program 1
(adult) 2
Division 1 Interpretation 3
39 Definitions for pt 6 4
In this part-- 5
complaint means a complaint about a matter mentioned in 6
section 41(2) made by or for a consumer at a visitable site. 7
consumer means-- 8
(a) for a visitable site that is an authorised mental health 9
service under the Mental Health Act 2000--any person 10
who lives or receives services at the visitable site; or 11
(b) for a visitable site that is the forensic disability 12
service--any person who lives or receives services at 13
the visitable site; or 14
(c) for another visitable site--an adult, with impaired 15
capacity for a personal matter or a financial matter or 16
with an impairment, who lives or receives services at the 17
visitable site. 18
forensic disability service means the forensic disability 19
service under the Forensic Disability Act 2011. 20
impairment means a cognitive, intellectual, neurological or 21
psychiatric impairment. 22
private dwelling house means premises that are used, or are 23
used principally, as a separate residence for-- 24
(a) if a restrictive practice under the Guardianship Act, 25
chapter 5B is being used at the premises--1 family; or 26
(b) otherwise--1 family or person. 27
visitable site means-- 28
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Part 6 Community visitor program (adult)
[s 40]
(a) an authorised mental health service under the Mental 1
Health Act 2000; or 2
(b) the forensic disability service; or 3
(c) a place, other than a private dwelling house, that is 4
prescribed under a regulation. 5
visitable site document, for a visitable site, means-- 6
(a) a document relating to the visitable site, including the 7
visitable site's records, policies and procedures; or 8
(b) a document relating to a consumer at the visitable site, 9
including a document in the consumer's personal or 10
medical file, regardless of who owns the file. 11
Division 2 Purpose 12
40 Purpose and allocation of community visitors (adult) 13
(1) The purpose of providing a program involving community 14
visitors (adult) for visitable sites is to protect the rights and 15
interests of consumers at the visitable sites. 16
(2) The public guardian may allocate 1 or more community 17
visitors (adult) for a visitable site. 18
Division 3 Functions 19
41 Inquiry and complaint functions 20
(1) A community visitor (adult) has inquiry and complaint 21
functions. 22
(2) The inquiry functions of a community visitor (adult) for a 23
visitable site are to inquire into, and report to the public 24
guardian on-- 25
(a) the adequacy of services for the assessment, treatment 26
and support of consumers at the visitable site; and 27
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Part 6 Community visitor program (adult)
[s 41]
(b) the appropriateness and standard of services for the 1
accommodation, health and wellbeing of consumers at 2
the site; and 3
(c) the extent to which consumers at the site receive 4
services in the way least restrictive of their rights; and 5
(d) the adequacy of information given to consumers at the 6
site about their rights; and 7
(e) the accessibility and effectiveness of procedures for 8
complaints about services for consumers at the site; and 9
(f) at the request of the public guardian, another matter 10
about the visitable site or consumers at the site. 11
(3) The complaint functions of a community visitor (adult) for a 12
visitable site are to-- 13
(a) inquire into, and seek to resolve, complaints; and 14
(b) identify and make appropriate and timely referrals of 15
unresolved complaints to appropriate entities for further 16
investigation or resolution. 17
(4) If a community visitor (adult) reasonably considers that the 18
visitor can discharge the visitor's functions or a particular 19
function by contacting a consumer or someone else at a 20
visitable site by using relevant technology, the visitor may 21
discharge the functions or function in that way. 22
(5) In this section-- 23
relevant technology means a telephone or any other 24
technology that reasonably allows persons using the 25
technology to communicate effectively. 26
Examples-- 27
· video conferencing 28
· text messaging 29
· email 30
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Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 6 Community visitor program (adult)
[s 42]
42 Requirement to regularly visit visitable site 1
(1) A community visitor (adult) for a visitable site must regularly 2
visit the visitable site to perform the visitor's functions. 3
(2) The public guardian may decide priorities for visiting 4
particular visitable sites that affect the frequency of visits to a 5
visitable site by a community visitor (adult). 6
43 Requirement to visit visitable site if asked 7
(1) A consumer at a visitable site, or a person for the consumer, 8
may-- 9
(a) ask the public guardian to arrange for a community 10
visitor (adult) to visit the site to perform the visitor's 11
functions; or 12
(b) ask a staff member at the visitable site to arrange for a 13
community visitor (adult) to visit the site to perform the 14
visitor's functions. 15
(2) If the request is made to a staff member at the visitable site, 16
the staff member must, within 3 business days after the 17
request is made, tell the public guardian about the request. 18
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 19
(3) A community visitor (adult) for the visitable site must visit the 20
site as soon as practicable if informed of a request to visit. 21
Division 4 Powers 22
44 Power to do all things necessary or convenient 23
(1) A community visitor (adult) for a visitable site may do all 24
things necessary or convenient to be done to perform the 25
visitor's functions, including, for example, the following 26
things-- 27
(a) enter the site during normal hours without notice; 28
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Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 6 Community visitor program (adult)
[s 45]
(b) with the public guardian's authorisation, enter the site 1
outside normal hours without notice; 2
(c) require a staff member at the site to answer questions, 3
and produce visitable site documents, relevant to the 4
visitor's functions; 5
(d) inspect and take extracts from, or make copies of, any 6
visitable site document; 7
(e) confer alone with a consumer or a staff member at the 8
site; 9
(f) require a staff member at the site to give the visitor 10
reasonable help, if it is practicable to give the help, to 11
enable the visitor to do the things mentioned in 12
paragraphs (a) to (e). 13
(2) A person who complies with a requirement under subsection 14
(1)(c) or (f) does not incur any liability, either to the consumer 15
or anyone else, because of the compliance. 16
(3) A person must comply with a requirement under subsection 17
(1)(c) or (f), unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 18
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 19
(4) It is a reasonable excuse for a person not to comply with a 20
requirement under subsection (1)(c) or (f) because compliance 21
with the requirement might tend to incriminate the person. 22
45 Public guardian may authorise access outside normal 23
hours 24
(1) This section applies if the public guardian considers a 25
community visitor (adult) can not adequately inquire into a 26
complaint by entering a visitable site during normal hours. 27
(2) The public guardian may authorise the visitor to enter the site 28
outside normal hours to inquire into the complaint. 29
(3) In authorising an entry outside normal hours, the public 30
guardian must specify a period of not more than 2 hours 31
during which the entry is authorised. 32
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Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 6 Community visitor program (adult)
[s 46]
46 Consumer's views and wishes 1
(1) To the greatest extent practicable, a community visitor (adult) 2
must seek and take into account the views and wishes of a 3
consumer before-- 4
(a) asking a staff member at the visitable site a question 5
relevant to a function of the visitor in relation to the 6
consumer; or 7
(b) inspecting, taking extracts from, or making copies of, a 8
visitable site document relevant to a function of the 9
visitor in relation to the consumer. 10
(2) A consumer's views and wishes may be expressed orally, in 11
writing or in another way, including, for example, by conduct. 12
(3) However, regardless of the consumer's views and wishes, the 13
visitor must act in a way consistent with the consumer's 14
proper care and protection. 15
47 Reports by community visitors (adult) 16
(1) As soon as practicable after a visit to a visitable site by a 17
community visitor (adult) for the visitable site, the visitor 18
must-- 19
(a) prepare a report on the visit; and 20
(b) give a copy of the report to the public guardian. 21
(2) If the visitor entered the site outside normal hours, the visitor 22
must state the authority for the entry in the report. 23
(3) As soon as practicable after receiving a copy of a report in 24
relation to the site, the public guardian must give a copy of the 25
report to a person in charge of the site. 26
(4) The public guardian may also give a copy of the report to any 27
of the following-- 28
(a) if the report relates to a complaint--the consumer; 29
(b) the public advocate; 30
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Chapter 3 Provisions relating to adults with impaired capacity
Part 6 Community visitor program (adult)
[s 48]
(c) the director of mental health under the Mental Health 1
Act 2000; 2
(d) the director of forensic disability under the Forensic 3
Disability Act 2011; 4
(e) if a restrictive practice under the Guardianship Act, 5
chapter 5B is being used at the visitable site-- 6
(i) the tribunal; or 7
(ii) a guardian or administrator for a consumer in 8
relation to whom the restrictive practice is used; or 9
(iii) the chief executive (disability services). 10
48 Public guardian's directions about the exercise of powers 11
A community visitor (adult) is subject to the public guardian's 12
directions in the exercise of a power. 13
Division 5 Miscellaneous 14
49 Privacy of correspondence between community visitor 15
(adult) and consumers 16
A staff member at a visitable site must not open, read, copy or 17
remove any correspondence sent, or being sent, between a 18
community visitor (adult) and a consumer residing at the site, 19
unless the consumer asks the staff member to do so. 20
Maximum penalty--20 penalty units. 21
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Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 4 Provisions relating to relevant children and children staying at visitable sites
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 50]
Chapter 4 Provisions relating to 1
relevant children and 2
children staying at visitable 3
sites 4
Part 1 Preliminary 5
50 Overview of ch 4 6
This chapter contains provisions relating to the public 7
guardian's functions and powers for relevant children and 8
children staying at visitable sites. 9
51 Definitions for ch 4 10
In this chapter-- 11
authorised mental health service see the Mental Health Act 12
2000, schedule. 13
boot camp centre see the Youth Justice Act 1992, schedule 4. 14
child accommodation service means a service the main 15
purpose of which is to provide accommodation, but does not 16
include-- 17
(a) the care of children by an approved carer under the 18
Child Protection Act acting in that capacity; or 19
(b) the provision of accommodation to children under 20
residential tenancy agreements under the Residential 21
Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008. 22
child under care, staying at a visitable home, means-- 23
(a) a child in the custody or guardianship of the chief 24
executive (child safety) under the Child Protection Act 25
who, under section 82 of that Act, has been placed in the 26
care of someone other than a parent of the child; or 27
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(b) a child who, under a care agreement under the Child 1
Protection Act, has been placed in the care of someone 2
other than a parent of the child. 3
corrective services facility see the Corrective Services Act 4
2006, schedule 4. 5
detention centre means a detention centre established under 6
the Youth Justice Act 1992, section 262. 7
prescribed department means-- 8
(a) the child safety department; or 9
(b) the community services department; or 10
(c) the disability services department; or 11
(d) the health department; or 12
(e) the housing department. 13
residential facility means a place at which a child 14
accommodation service is provided-- 15
(a) by a prescribed department; or 16
(b) under funding provided by a prescribed department; or 17
(c) under funding provided by the Commonwealth and 18
administered by a prescribed department; or 19
(d) under a licence under the Child Protection Act; or 20
(e) to a child who is, under the Child Protection Act, in the 21
custody or guardianship of the chief executive (child 22
safety), if the place is prescribed under a regulation for 23
this paragraph. 24
visitable home, for a child under care, means-- 25
(a) if the child is in the custody or guardianship of the chief 26
executive (child safety) under the Child Protection Act 27
and, under section 82 of that Act, has been placed in the 28
care of someone other than a parent of the child--the 29
home or other accommodation where the child is 30
staying with the other person; or 31
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(b) if the child, under a care agreement under the Child 1
Protection Act, has been placed in the care of someone 2
other than a parent of the child--the home or other 3
accommodation where the child is staying with the other 4
person. 5
visitable location means a visitable home or visitable site as 6
defined in this section. 7
visitable site, for a child, means-- 8
(a) a residential facility where the child is staying; or 9
(b) a detention centre where the child is staying; or 10
(c) a boot camp centre where the child is staying; or 11
(d) a corrective services facility where the child is staying; 12
or 13
(e) an authorised mental health service where the child is 14
staying. 15
visitable site document, for a visitable site, means-- 16
(a) a document relating to the visitable site, including the 17
visitable site's records, policies and procedures; or 18
(b) a document relating to a child staying at the visitable 19
site, including a document in the child's personal or 20
medical file, regardless of who owns the file. 21
52 When is a child a relevant child 22
(1) A child is a relevant child if the child is subject to any of the 23
following-- 24
(a) a temporary assessment order under the Child 25
Protection Act, section 27(1); 26
(b) a court assessment order under the Child Protection Act, 27
section 44; 28
(c) a temporary custody order under the Child Protection 29
Act, section 51AE; 30
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(d) an intervention, with the child's parents' agreement, by 1
the chief executive (child safety) under the Child 2
Protection Act, chapter 2, part 3B, division 2; 3
(e) a care agreement under the Child Protection Act, section 4
51ZE; 5
(f) a child protection order under the Child Protection Act, 6
section 61, including a child protection order that 7
continues in force-- 8
(i) under a transition order made under section 65A of 9
that Act; or 10
(ii) by operation of section 65A(4) of that Act. 11
(2) A child stops being a relevant child if-- 12
(a) subject to subsection (3), the child stops being the 13
subject of an order, intervention or agreement 14
mentioned in subsection (1); or 15
(b) subject to subsection (4), the child turns 18. 16
(3) A child to whom subsection (2)(a) refers continues to be a 17
relevant child if-- 18
(a) immediately before the child stopped being subject to 19
the order, intervention or agreement, the public guardian 20
was providing particular help to the child and the public 21
guardian believes it is appropriate to finish providing the 22
help to the child; or 23
(b) the public guardian believes that the child requires 24
particular help to review a decision ending the order, 25
intervention or agreement. 26
(4) A person to whom subsection (2)(b) refers continues to be a 27
relevant child if-- 28
(a) the person asks the public guardian for help in the 29
person's transition from being a relevant child; and 30
(b) the public guardian is satisfied the person continues to 31
be in need of particular help for the transition. 32
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(5) A person stops being a relevant child under subsection (3) or 1
(4) when the public guardian-- 2
(a) has finished providing the particular help mentioned in 3
subsection (3)(a) or (b) or (4)(b); and 4
(b) advises the person that he or she is no longer a relevant 5
child for this Act. 6
53 Who is a parent 7
(1) A parent of a child is the child's mother, father or someone 8
else, other than the chief executive (child safety), having or 9
exercising parental responsibility for the child. 10
(2) However, a person standing in the place of a parent of a child 11
on a temporary basis is not a parent of the child. 12
(3) A parent of an Aboriginal child includes a person who, under 13
Aboriginal tradition, is regarded as a parent of the child. 14
(4) A parent of a Torres Strait Islander child includes a person 15
who, under Island custom, is regarded as a parent of the child. 16
54 Child's views and wishes 17
(1) To the greatest extent practicable, the public guardian or 18
another entity who performs a child advocate function or 19
exercises a power under this Act in relation to a child must 20
seek, and take into account, the views and wishes of the child 21
when performing the function or exercising the power. 22
(2) The child's views and wishes may be expressed orally, in 23
writing or in another way, including, for example, by conduct. 24
(3) The child's views and wishes should be taken into account in 25
a way that has regard to the child's age and maturity. 26
(4) In this section-- 27
child means a relevant child or a child staying at a visitable 28
site. 29
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Part 2 Community visitor program 1
(child) 2
Division 1 Purpose 3
55 Purpose and allocation of community visitors (child) 4
(1) The purpose of providing a program involving community 5
visitors (child) for visitable locations is to protect the rights 6
and interests of children staying at visitable locations. 7
(2) The public guardian may allocate 1 or more community 8
visitors (child) for a visitable location. 9
Division 2 Functions 10
56 Functions of community visitor (child), etc. 11
(1) A community visitor (child) has the following functions 12
relating to a child under care staying at a visitable home or a 13
child staying at a visitable site-- 14
(a) to develop a trusting and supportive relationship with 15
the child, so far as is possible; 16
(b) to advocate on behalf of the child by listening to, giving 17
voice to, and facilitating the resolution of, the child's 18
concerns and grievances; 19
(c) to seek information about, and facilitate access by the 20
child to, support services appropriate to the child's 21
needs provided by service providers; 22
(d) to inquire into and report on the adequacy of 23
information given to the child about the child's rights; 24
(e) to inquire into and report on the physical and emotional 25
wellbeing of the child; 26
(f) for a visitable home-- 27
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(i) to inspect the home and report on its 1
appropriateness for the accommodation of the 2
child; and 3
(ii) to ensure the child's needs are being met by 4
persons caring for the child at the home; 5
(g) for a visitable site-- 6
(i) to inspect the site and report on its appropriateness 7
for the accommodation of the child or the delivery 8
of services to the child, having regard to relevant 9
State and Commonwealth laws, policies and 10
standards; and 11
(ii) to ensure the child's needs are being met by staff 12
members at the site; 13
(h) at the request of the public guardian, to inquire into and 14
report on any other matter relating to a child under care 15
staying at a visitable home or a child staying at a 16
visitable site. 17
(2) A community visitor (child) may perform any other child 18
advocate function if directed by the public guardian. 19
(3) A community visitor (child) also has the function of giving 20
advice and reports to the public guardian about anything 21
relating to the visitor's functions and powers. 22
(4) If a community visitor (child) reasonably considers that the 23
visitor can discharge the visitor's functions or a particular 24
function by contacting a child or someone else at a visitable 25
home or visitable site by using relevant technology, the visitor 26
may discharge the functions or function in that way. 27
(5) In this section-- 28
relevant technology means a telephone or any other 29
technology that reasonably allows persons using the 30
technology to communicate effectively. 31
Examples-- 32
· video conferencing 33
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· text messaging 1
· email 2
service provider includes an entity providing a service under 3
an arrangement that involves a written agreement to which a 4
service provider is a party. 5
Example-- 6
services provided to children under foster care arrangements 7
57 Requirement to visit children under care in visitable 8
homes 9
(1) The public guardian may direct a community visitor (child) to 10
visit a child under care staying at a visitable home. 11
(2) In deciding whether to direct a community visitor (child) to 12
visit a child under care at a visitable home, the public 13
guardian may have regard to the following matters-- 14
(a) the child's age; 15
(b) the number of children staying at the home; 16
(c) the appropriateness of the accommodation at the home; 17
(d) whether the chief executive (child safety) has a 18
reasonable suspicion under the Child Protection Act, 19
section 14 that the child is in need of protection; 20
(e) the number of visitable locations the child has stayed at; 21
(f) whether the child has moved out of visitable locations 22
without the approval of the chief executive (child 23
safety); 24
(g) the child's cultural or linguistic background; 25
(h) whether, under the Youth Justice Act 1992-- 26
(i) a caution has been administered to the child; or 27
(ii) an offence allegedly committed by the child has 28
been referred to a conference; or 29
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(iii) an opportunity to attend a program has been 1
offered to the child; or 2
(iv) other action has been taken against the child; 3
(i) any other matter the public guardian considers relevant, 4
including, for example, any physical disability or 5
impairment. 6
(3) The public guardian may decide the regularity or frequency of 7
visits to the child. 8
(4) In this section-- 9
impairment means a cognitive, intellectual, neurological or 10
psychiatric impairment. 11
58 Requirement to regularly visit visitable site 12
(1) A community visitor (child) for a visitable site must regularly 13
visit the visitable site to perform the visitor's functions. 14
(2) The public guardian may decide priorities for visiting 15
particular visitable sites that affect the frequency of visits to a 16
visitable site by a community visitor (child). 17
59 Requirement to visit visitable home or communicate if 18
asked 19
(1) A child under care staying at a visitable home may-- 20
(a) ask the public guardian to arrange for a community 21
visitor (child) to visit the home to perform the visitor's 22
functions; or 23
(b) ask an authorised officer under the Child Protection Act 24
to arrange for a community visitor (child) to visit the 25
home to perform the visitor's functions; or 26
(c) ask a carer of the child to arrange for a community 27
visitor (child) to visit the home to perform the visitor's 28
functions; or 29
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(d) inform a carer of the child that the child wishes to 1
communicate with a particular community visitor 2
(child). 3
(2) If subsection (1)(b) applies, the authorised officer must tell 4
the public guardian about the request as soon as practicable. 5
(3) If subsection (1)(c) applies, the carer must tell the public 6
guardian about the request as soon as practicable. 7
(4) If subsection (1)(d) applies, the carer must take reasonable 8
steps to inform the particular visitor about the request as soon 9
as practicable. 10
(5) A community visitor (child) must comply with a request to 11
visit the child at the visitable home, or communicate with the 12
child, as soon as practicable after being informed of the 13
request. 14
(6) A person does not commit an offence only by failing to 15
comply with subsection (2), (3), (4) or (5). 16
60 Requirement to visit visitable site or communicate if 17
asked 18
(1) A child staying at a visitable site may-- 19
(a) ask the public guardian to arrange for a community 20
visitor (child) to visit the site to perform the visitor's 21
functions; or 22
(b) ask a staff member of the site to arrange for a 23
community visitor (child) to visit the site to perform the 24
visitor's functions; or 25
(c) inform a staff member of the site that the child wishes to 26
communicate with a particular community visitor 27
(child). 28
(2) If subsection (1)(b) applies, the staff member must tell the 29
public guardian about the request as soon as practicable. 30
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 31
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(3) If subsection (1)(c) applies, the staff member must take 1
reasonable steps to inform the particular visitor about the 2
request as soon as practicable. 3
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 4
(4) A community visitor (child) must comply with a request to 5
visit a site, or communicate with a child staying at a site, as 6
soon as practicable after being informed of the request. 7
(5) A community visitor (child) does not commit an offence only 8
by failing to comply with subsection (4). 9
Division 3 Powers 10
Subdivision 1 Visitable homes 11
61 Power of entry--visitable home 12
(1) A community visitor (child) may enter a visitable home at 13
which a child under care is staying if-- 14
(a) a carer staying at the home consents to the entry; or 15
(b) the entry is authorised by a warrant. 16
(2) For the purpose of asking a person who is a carer staying at a 17
visitable home for consent to enter, a visitor may, without the 18
person's consent or a warrant-- 19
(a) enter land around the home to an extent that is 20
reasonable to contact the person; or 21
(b) enter part of the home the visitor reasonably considers 22
members of the public ordinarily are allowed to enter 23
when they wish to contact the person. 24
62 Consent to entry--visitable home 25
(1) This section applies if a community visitor (child) intends to 26
ask a person who is a carer staying at a visitable home to 27
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consent to the visitor entering the home under section 1
61(1)(a). 2
(2) Before asking for the consent, the visitor must tell the 3
person-- 4
(a) the purpose of the entry; and 5
(b) that the person is not required to consent. 6
(3) If the consent is given, the visitor may ask the person to sign 7
an acknowledgement of the consent. 8
(4) The acknowledgement must state-- 9
(a) that the person has been told-- 10
(i) the purpose of the entry; and 11
(ii) that the person is not required to consent; and 12
(b) the purpose of the entry; and 13
(c) that the person gives the visitor consent to enter the 14
visitable home and exercise powers under this 15
subdivision; and 16
(d) the time and date the consent was given. 17
(5) If the person signs the acknowledgement, the visitor must 18
immediately give a copy to the person. 19
(6) If-- 20
(a) an issue arises in a proceeding about whether a person 21
who was a carer staying at a visitable home consented to 22
the entry; and 23
(b) an acknowledgement complying with subsection (4) for 24
the entry is not produced in evidence; 25
the onus of proof is on the person relying on the lawfulness of 26
the entry to prove a person mentioned in paragraph (a) 27
consented. 28
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63 Application for warrant--visitable home 1
(1) The public guardian may apply to a magistrate for a warrant 2
for a visitable home at which a child under care is staying. 3
(2) The application must be sworn and state the grounds on which 4
the warrant is sought. 5
(3) The magistrate may refuse to consider the application until the 6
public guardian gives the magistrate all the information the 7
magistrate requires about the application in the way the 8
magistrate requires. 9
Example-- 10
The magistrate may require additional information supporting the 11
application to be given by statutory declaration. 12
64 Issue of warrant--visitable home 13
(1) The magistrate may issue a warrant only if the magistrate is 14
satisfied a community visitor (child) can not properly carry 15
out 1 or more of the visitor's functions in relation to the child 16
without gaining entry to the visitable home. 17
(2) The warrant must state-- 18
(a) that a named community visitor (child) may, with 19
necessary and reasonable help and force-- 20
(i) enter the visitable home and any other place 21
necessary for entry; and 22
(ii) exercise the visitor's powers under this 23
subdivision; and 24
(b) the hours of the day or night when the home may be 25
entered; and 26
(c) the date, within 14 days after the warrant's issue, the 27
warrant ends. 28
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65 Warrants--procedure before entry to visitable home 1
(1) This section applies if a community visitor (child) named in a 2
warrant issued under section 64 for a visitable home is 3
intending to enter the home under the warrant. 4
(2) Before entering the home, the visitor must do or make a 5
reasonable attempt to do the following things-- 6
(a) identify himself or herself to a person who is a carer 7
staying at the visitable home by producing the visitor's 8
identity card; 9
(b) give the person a copy of the warrant; 10
(c) tell the person the visitor is permitted by the warrant to 11
enter the home; 12
(d) give the person an opportunity to allow the visitor 13
immediate entry to the home without using force. 14
66 Powers relating to visitable homes 15
(1) After entering a visitable home with consent or under a 16
warrant, a community visitor (child) may do any of the 17
following-- 18
(a) look around the home and assess its appropriateness for 19
the accommodation of the child under care; 20
(b) have access to the child under care; 21
(c) talk with the child under care out of the hearing of other 22
persons at the home; 23
(d) require a carer staying at the home to give the visitor 24
reasonable help to exercise the visitor's powers under 25
paragraphs (a) to (c). 26
(2) A person must comply with a requirement under subsection 27
(1)(d). 28
(3) A person does not commit an offence only by failing to 29
comply with a requirement under subsection (1)(d). 30
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Subdivision 2 Visitable sites 1
67 Power of entry--visitable site 2
(1) A community visitor (child) may do all things necessary or 3
convenient to be done to perform the visitor's functions, 4
including, for example, the following things-- 5
(a) enter a visitable site during normal hours without notice; 6
(b) with the public guardian's authorisation, enter a 7
visitable site outside normal hours without notice; 8
(c) inspect a visitable site; 9
(d) have access to a child staying at a visitable site; 10
(e) talk with a child staying at a visitable site out of the 11
hearing of other persons at the site (including staff 12
members of the site); 13
(f) require a staff member of a visitable site to answer 14
questions, and produce visitable site documents, 15
relevant to the visitor's functions; 16
(g) inspect and take extracts from, or make copies of, any 17
visitable site document; 18
(h) confer alone with a staff member of a visitable site; 19
(i) require a staff member of a visitable site to give the 20
visitor reasonable help, if it is practicable to give the 21
help, to enable the visitor to do the things mentioned in 22
paragraphs (a) to (h). 23
(2) A person who complies with a requirement under subsection 24
(1)(f) or (i) does not incur any liability, either to the child or 25
anyone else, because of the compliance. 26
(3) A person must comply with a requirement under subsection 27
(1)(f) or (i) unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 28
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 29
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(4) It is a reasonable excuse for a person not to comply with a 1
requirement under subsection (1)(f) or (i) because compliance 2
with the requirement might tend to incriminate the person. 3
(5) If the visitable site is a corrective services facility or detention 4
centre, it is a reasonable excuse for a person not to comply 5
with a requirement under subsection (1)(f) or (i) if the 6
disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 7
prejudice the security or good order of the facility or centre. 8
(6) If the visitable site is a corrective services facility, the exercise 9
of power under this section is subject to any direction or 10
procedure given or made by the chief executive (corrective 11
services) to facilitate the effective and efficient management 12
of corrective services. 13
(7) If the visitable site is a detention centre, the exercise of power 14
under this section is subject to any direction given or made by 15
the chief executive (youth justice services) for the security and 16
management of detention centres and the safe custody and 17
wellbeing of children detained in detention centres. 18
68 Public guardian may authorise access to visitable site 19
outside normal hours 20
(1) This section applies if the public guardian considers a 21
community visitor (child) can not adequately perform 1 or 22
more of the visitor's functions by entering a visitable site 23
during normal hours. 24
(2) The public guardian may authorise the visitor to enter the 25
visitable site outside normal hours to perform the function or 26
functions. 27
(3) In authorising an entry outside normal hours, the public 28
guardian must specify a period of not more than 2 hours 29
during which the entry is authorised. 30
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Subdivision 3 General 1
69 Community visitor (child) to respect privacy 2
(1) In performing a function or exercising a power in relation to a 3
child under care staying at a visitable home, a community 4
visitor (child) must act in a way that-- 5
(a) respects, as far as practicable, the privacy of persons 6
staying at the home and does not cause them 7
unnecessary inconvenience; and 8
(b) respects the wishes of any of the children staying at the 9
home who does not wish to communicate with the 10
visitor. 11
(2) In performing a function or exercising a power in relation to a 12
child staying at a visitable site, a community visitor (child) 13
must act in a way that-- 14
(a) respects, as far as practicable, the privacy of children 15
staying at the site; and 16
(b) respects the wishes of any of the children who does not 17
wish to communicate with the visitor. 18
70 Reports by community visitors (child) 19
(1) As soon as practicable after visiting a child under care staying 20
at a visitable home or a child staying at a visitable site, a 21
community visitor (child) must-- 22
(a) prepare a report on the visit; and 23
(b) give a copy of the report to the public guardian. 24
(2) If the visitor entered a visitable site outside normal hours, the 25
visitor must state the authority for the entry in the report. 26
(3) So far as the public guardian considers appropriate, the public 27
guardian may give a copy of a report about a visit to a child 28
under care staying at a visitable home, or information from 29
the report, to any of the following entities-- 30
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(a) the chief executive (child safety); 1
(b) the chief executive of a department responsible for 2
providing services to the child who is a subject of the 3
report; 4
(c) a carer of the child; 5
(d) a service provider, holding a licence to provide care 6
services under the Child Protection Act, involved in the 7
placement of the child in the home; 8
(e) the child. 9
(4) So far as the public guardian considers appropriate, the public 10
guardian may give a copy of a report about a visit to a child 11
staying at a visitable site, or information from the report, to 12
any of the following entities-- 13
(a) a person in charge of the site; 14
(b) a government service provider responsible for regulating 15
the site; 16
(c) the chief executive officer of an entity responsible for 17
operating the site; 18
(d) the chief executive of a department responsible for 19
providing funding or services to the site; 20
(e) the chief executive of a department responsible for 21
providing services to children staying at the site; 22
(f) the child. 23
71 Public guardian's directions about the exercise of powers 24
A community visitor (child) is subject to the public guardian's 25
directions in the exercise of a power. 26
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Part 3 Child advocacy officers
[s 72]
Division 4 Miscellaneous 1
72 Privacy of correspondence between community visitor 2
(child) and children 3
(1) A carer at a visitable home or a staff member of a visitable site 4
must not open, read, copy or remove any correspondence sent, 5
or being sent, between a community visitor (child) and a child 6
staying at the site or home, unless the child asks the staff 7
member or carer to do so. 8
Maximum penalty--20 penalty units. 9
(2) In this section-- 10
visitable site does not include a corrective services facility 11
where a child is staying. 12
Note-- 13
See the Corrective Services Act 2006, chapter 2, part 2, division 4, 14
subdivision 1 for provisions dealing with a prisoner's mail. 15
Part 3 Child advocacy officers 16
Division 1 Functions 17
73 Functions of child advocacy officer 18
A child advocacy officer may perform child advocate 19
functions for a relevant child. 20
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Part 3 Child advocacy officers
[s 74]
Division 2 Powers 1
74 Power of entry 2
(1) A child advocacy officer may enter-- 3
(a) a visitable site-- 4
(i) during normal visiting hours without notice; or 5
(ii) with the public guardian's authorisation, outside 6
normal hours without notice; or 7
(b) another place where a relevant child is staying if-- 8
(i) a person in charge of the place consents to the 9
entry; or 10
(ii) it is a public place and the entry is made when it is 11
open to the public; or 12
(iii) the entry is authorised by a warrant. 13
(2) For the purpose of asking a person who is in charge of a place 14
for consent to enter under subsection (1)(b)(i), an officer may, 15
without the person's consent or a warrant-- 16
(a) enter land around the place to an extent that is 17
reasonable to contact the person; or 18
(b) enter part of the place the officer reasonably considers 19
members of the public ordinarily are allowed to enter 20
when they wish to contact the person. 21
75 Public guardian may authorise access to visitable site 22
outside normal hours 23
(1) This section applies if the public guardian considers a child 24
advocacy officer can not adequately perform 1 or more of the 25
officer's functions by entering a visitable site during normal 26
hours. 27
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(2) The public guardian may authorise the officer to enter the 1
visitable site outside normal hours to perform the function or 2
functions. 3
(3) In authorising an entry outside normal hours, the public 4
guardian must specify a period of not more than 2 hours 5
during which the entry is authorised. 6
76 Powers in relation to staff members of visitable sites 7
(1) After entering a visitable site, a child advocacy officer may do 8
any of the following-- 9
(a) have access to a child staying at the site; 10
(b) talk with a child staying at the site, out of the hearing of 11
staff members of the site and other persons at the site; 12
(c) at any reasonable time, require a staff member of the site 13
to give the officer reasonable help, if it is practicable to 14
give the help, to exercise the officer's powers under 15
paragraph (a) or (b). 16
(2) A staff member must comply with a requirement under 17
subsection (1)(c), unless the staff member has a reasonable 18
excuse. 19
Maximum penalty for subsection (2)--40 penalty units. 20
77 Consent to entry 21
(1) This section applies if a child advocacy officer intends to ask a 22
person who is in charge of a place (other than a visitable site) 23
where a relevant child is staying to consent to the officer 24
entering the place under section 74(1)(b)(i). 25
(2) Before asking for the consent, the officer must tell the 26
person-- 27
(a) the purpose of the entry; and 28
(b) that the person is not required to consent. 29
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(3) If the consent is given, the officer may ask the person to sign 1
an acknowledgement of the consent. 2
(4) The acknowledgement must state-- 3
(a) that the person has been told-- 4
(i) the purpose of the entry; and 5
(ii) that the person is not required to consent; and 6
(b) the purpose of the entry; and 7
(c) that the person gives the officer consent to enter the 8
place and exercise powers under this division; and 9
(d) the time and date the consent was given. 10
(5) If the person signs the acknowledgement, the officer must 11
immediately give a copy to the person. 12
(6) If-- 13
(a) an issue arises in a proceeding about whether a person 14
who was in charge of a place consented to the entry; and 15
(b) an acknowledgement complying with subsection (4) for 16
the entry is not produced in evidence; 17
the onus of proof is on the person relying on the lawfulness of 18
the entry to prove a person mentioned in paragraph (a) 19
consented. 20
78 Application for warrant 21
(1) The public guardian may apply to a magistrate for a warrant 22
for a place (other than a visitable site) where a relevant child 23
is staying. 24
(2) The application must be sworn and state the grounds on which 25
the warrant is sought. 26
(3) The magistrate may refuse to consider the application until the 27
public guardian gives the magistrate all the information the 28
magistrate requires about the application in the way the 29
magistrate requires. 30
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[s 79]
Example-- 1
The magistrate may require additional information supporting the 2
application to be given by statutory declaration. 3
79 Issue of warrant 4
(1) The magistrate may issue a warrant for a place (other than a 5
visitable site) where a relevant child is staying only if the 6
magistrate is satisfied a child advocacy officer can not 7
properly carry out 1 or more of the officer's functions without 8
gaining entry to the place. 9
(2) The warrant must state-- 10
(a) that a named child advocacy officer may, with necessary 11
and reasonable help and force-- 12
(i) enter the named place and any other place 13
necessary for entry; and 14
(ii) exercise the officer's powers under this division; 15
and 16
(b) the hours of the day or night when the place may be 17
entered; and 18
(c) the date, within 14 days after the warrant's issue, the 19
warrant ends. 20
80 Warrants--procedure before entry 21
(1) This section applies if a child advocacy officer named in a 22
warrant issued under section 79 for a place where a relevant 23
child is staying is intending to enter the place under the 24
warrant. 25
(2) Before entering the place, the officer must do or make a 26
reasonable attempt to do the following things-- 27
(a) identify himself or herself to a person who is in charge 28
of the place by producing the officer's identity card; 29
(b) give the person a copy of the warrant; 30
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[s 81]
(c) tell the person the officer is permitted by the warrant to 1
enter the place; 2
(d) give the person an opportunity to allow the officer 3
immediate entry to the place without using force. 4
81 Powers relating to places where child is staying 5
(1) After entering a place where a relevant child is staying with 6
consent or under a warrant, a child advocacy officer may do 7
any of the following-- 8
(a) look around the place and assess its appropriateness for 9
the accommodation of the child; 10
(b) have access to the child; 11
(c) talk with the child out of the hearing of other persons; 12
(d) require a carer staying at the place or someone else who 13
is in charge of the place to give the officer reasonable 14
help to exercise the officer's powers under paragraphs 15
(a) to (c). 16
(2) A person must comply with a requirement under subsection 17
(1)(d). 18
(3) A person does not commit an offence only by failing to 19
comply with a requirement under subsection (1)(d). 20
82 Child advocacy officer to respect privacy 21
(1) In performing a function or exercising a power in relation to a 22
visitable site, a child advocacy officer must act in a way that 23
respects, as far as practicable, the privacy of children staying 24
at the site. 25
(2) In performing a function or exercising a power in relation to a 26
place where a relevant child is staying, a child advocacy 27
officer must act in a way that respects, as far as practicable, 28
the privacy of persons staying at the place and does not cause 29
them unnecessary inconvenience. 30
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Part 4 Information exchange
[s 83]
Part 4 Information exchange 1
83 Purpose 2
The purpose of this part is to authorise and facilitate an 3
appropriate exchange of information, including confidential 4
information about a child and a child's circumstances, 5
between a prescribed entity and the public guardian to help 6
the public guardian perform child advocate functions in 7
relation to relevant children. 8
84 Prescribed entities 9
The following entities are prescribed entities for this part-- 10
(a) the Queensland Family and Child Commission; 11
(b) the chief executive (child safety); 12
(c) the chief executive (corrective services); 13
(d) the chief executive (disability services); 14
(e) the chief executive (education); 15
(f) the chief executive (health); 16
(g) the chief executive (housing); 17
(h) the chief executive (youth justice services); 18
(i) the director of public prosecutions; 19
(j) the chief executive officer of Legal Aid Queensland; 20
(k) the commissioner of the Queensland Police Service; 21
(l) a health service chief executive within the meaning of 22
the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011; 23
(m) the chief executive officer of the Mater Misericordiae 24
Health Services Brisbane Ltd (ACN 096 708 922); 25
(n) the principal of a school that is accredited, or 26
provisionally accredited, under the Education 27
(Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2001; 28
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[s 85]
(o) the chief executive officer (however described) of a 1
visitable site; 2
(p) a recognised entity; 3
(q) an external contractor; 4
(r) another entity prescribed under a regulation. 5
85 Information requirement made by public guardian 6
(1) The public guardian may ask a prescribed entity for particular 7
information in the entity's possession or control for the 8
purpose of this part. 9
(2) Subject to this section, the prescribed entity must comply with 10
the request. 11
(3) However, if the prescribed entity is the director of public 12
prosecutions or the chief executive officer of Legal Aid 13
Queensland, the information to be made available by the 14
director or chief executive officer must not relate to anyone or 15
anything other than a child and the child's circumstances. 16
Examples of information that does not relate to the child and the child's 17
circumstances-- 18
If the director of public prosecutions is prosecuting a parent of the child 19
for an offence against the child, the director is not required to provide 20
information about the prosecution of the parent. Similarly, if Legal Aid 21
Queensland is also representing a parent of the child, Legal Aid 22
Queensland is not required to provide information relevant to the 23
parent's representation. 24
(4) To remove any doubt, it is declared that the chief executive 25
officer of Legal Aid Queensland, must comply with a request 26
for information about a child and the child's circumstances if 27
the Childrens Court has made an order under the Child 28
Protection Act, section 110 that the child be separately 29
represented by Legal Aid Queensland. 30
(5) For subsection (1), information is not taken to be in the 31
prescribed entity's control merely because of an agreement 32
between the prescribed entity and another entity under which 33
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[s 86]
the other entity must give the information to the prescribed 1
entity. 2
(6) A prescribed entity may refuse to comply with a request under 3
this section to provide information that is subject to legal 4
professional privilege. 5
(7) Also, a prescribed entity may refuse to comply with a request 6
under this section to provide the information if the prescribed 7
entity decides that giving the information could reasonably be 8
expected to-- 9
(a) prejudice the investigation of a contravention or possible 10
contravention of a law in a particular case; or 11
(b) prejudice an investigation under the Coroners Act 2003; 12
or 13
(c) prejudice the effectiveness of a lawful method or 14
procedure for preventing, detecting, investigating or 15
dealing with a contravention or possible contravention 16
of a law; or 17
(d) enable the existence or identity of a confidential source 18
of information, in relation to the enforcement or 19
administration of a law, to be ascertained; or 20
(e) endanger a person's life or physical safety. 21
(8) The prescribed entity is not required to satisfy itself that the 22
request for particular information is made for the purpose of 23
this part. 24
86 Use of information 25
(1) The public guardian may use information obtained under this 26
part or another law to help the public guardian discharge the 27
public guardian's child advocate functions in relation to a 28
child. 29
(2) For example, information may be used-- 30
(a) to help a child by providing information or advice about 31
a matter to the child; or 32
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[s 87]
(b) for a child mentioned in the Child Protection Act, 1
section 74(1)--to help the child if the child considers 2
that the charter of rights set out in the Child Protection 3
Act, schedule 1 is not being complied with in relation to 4
the child; or 5
(c) to help a child by monitoring any plan prepared for the 6
child's health, education or benefit to ensure it is being 7
adhered to; or 8
(d) to help a child by monitoring any case plan, under the 9
Child Protection Act, that is prepared for the child to 10
ensure it is being adhered to; or 11
(e) to link a child with someone else who is in a position to 12
help the child with a particular matter; or 13
(f) to work with another entity to meet a child's needs; or 14
(g) to support a child in the resolution of an issue a child 15
may have with a particular entity; or 16
(h) to help the child to lodge a complaint about something 17
with a particular entity; or 18
(i) to support a child at a conference, mediation or other 19
meeting; or 20
(j) to support or make submissions on behalf of a child at a 21
court or tribunal hearing. 22
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the public guardian may also 23
use the information to help decide the children receiving visits 24
from community visitors (child) under part 2 or the frequency 25
of the visits. 26
87 Chief executive (child safety) to advise public guardian 27
when child is subject to particular orders, etc. 28
(1) The chief executive (child safety) must advise the public 29
guardian as soon as practicable after-- 30
(a) making a reviewable decision in relation to a child; or 31
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Part 4 Information exchange
[s 88]
(b) becoming aware that a child is subject to an order, 1
intervention or agreement of a kind mentioned in section 2
52(1). 3
(2) The chief executive (child safety) must advise the public 4
guardian as soon as practicable after becoming aware that the 5
child is no longer the subject of an order, intervention or 6
agreement of a kind mentioned in section 52(1). 7
(3) In this section-- 8
reviewable decision means a decision that is a reviewable 9
decision under the Child Protection Act, other than-- 10
(a) a decision about a licence under section 129 of that Act; 11
or 12
(b) a decision about a certificate of approval under section 13
136 of that Act; or 14
(c) a decision about an authority under section 137, 138, 15
140, 140AG(3) or (4) or 140AH of that Act. 16
Note-- 17
Reviewable decisions under the Child Protection Act are in 18
schedule 2 of that Act. See schedule 3, definition reviewable 19
decision of that Act. 20
88 Making information available to prescribed entities 21
The public guardian may disclose information, including 22
confidential information, about a child or a child's 23
circumstances to a prescribed entity to protect, in the 24
performance of child advocate functions, the rights and 25
interests of the child. 26
89 Making information available for Child Protection Act 27
(1) The public guardian may, under arrangements made with the 28
chief executive (child safety), make information, including 29
confidential information about a child, gained in the 30
administration of this Act, available to officers of the child 31
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[s 90]
safety department for the purposes of the Child Protection 1
Act. 2
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the arrangement may provide 3
for the electronic transfer of information, including on a daily 4
basis. 5
90 Protection from liability for giving information 6
(1) This section applies if a person, acting honestly, gives 7
information in compliance with this part. 8
(2) The person is not liable, civilly, criminally or under an 9
administrative process, for giving the information. 10
(3) Also, merely because the person gives the information, the 11
person can not be held to have-- 12
(a) breached any code of professional etiquette or ethics; or 13
(b) departed from accepted standards of professional 14
conduct. 15
(4) Without limiting subsections (2) and (3)-- 16
(a) in a proceeding for defamation, the person has a defence 17
of absolute privilege for publishing the information; and 18
(b) if the person would otherwise be required to maintain 19
confidentiality about the information under an Act, oath 20
or rule of law or practice, the person-- 21
(i) does not contravene the Act, oath or rule of law or 22
practice by giving the information; and 23
(ii) is not liable to disciplinary action for giving the 24
information. 25
91 Interaction with other laws 26
(1) This part does not limit a power or obligation under another 27
Act or law to give information. 28
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Part 1 Appointment of public guardian and related provisions
[s 92]
(2) Subject to the Child Protection Act, sections 186, 189, 193 1
and 194 this part applies to information despite any other law 2
that would otherwise prohibit or restrict the giving of the 3
information. 4
Examples of other laws prohibiting or restricting the giving of 5
information-- 6
· Child Protection Act, section 187 7
· Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, section 426 8
· Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011, section 142(1) 9
· Legal Aid Queensland Act 1997, section 82 10
· Police Service Administration Act 1990, section 10.1 11
· Youth Justice Act 1992, section 288 12
(3) Information obtained by the public guardian under another 13
law may be used by the public guardian to protect, in the 14
performance of child advocate functions, the rights and 15
interests of a child. 16
Chapter 5 Administration 17
Part 1 Appointment of public guardian 18
and related provisions 19
92 Appointment of public guardian 20
(1) The public guardian is appointed by the Governor in Council 21
on the recommendation of the Minister. 22
(2) The Minister may recommend a person for appointment only 23
if the Minister is satisfied the person has demonstrated 24
qualities of leadership, management and innovation in a 25
senior government or private sector role. 26
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 1 Appointment of public guardian and related provisions
[s 93]
(3) A person may not hold office as the public guardian while the 1
person holds another office having functions concerning-- 2
(a) the rights and interests of, or the provision of services or 3
facilities to, adults with impaired capacity for a matter; 4
or 5
(b) the rights and interests of, or the provision of services or 6
facilities to, children. 7
93 Public guardian employed under this Act 8
The public guardian is appointed under this Act and not under 9
the Public Service Act 2008. 10
94 Selection 11
(1) For selecting a person for recommendation for appointment as 12
public guardian, the Minister must advertise for applications 13
from appropriately qualified persons to be considered for 14
selection. 15
(2) The Minister may recommend to the Governor in Council a 16
person for appointment as public guardian only if subsection 17
(1) has been complied with for the appointment. 18
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to the reappointment of a 19
person as the public guardian. 20
95 Term of office 21
Subject to this part, the public guardian holds office for a term 22
of not longer than 5 years. 23
Note-- 24
However, the public guardian may be reappointed--see the Acts 25
Interpretation Act 1954, section 25(1)(c). 26
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 1 Appointment of public guardian and related provisions
[s 96]
96 Conditions of appointment 1
(1) The public guardian is to be paid the remuneration and 2
allowances decided by the Governor in Council. 3
(2) The public guardian holds office on the terms and conditions, 4
not provided for by this Act, that are decided by the Governor 5
in Council. 6
97 Vacancy in office 7
(1) The office of public guardian becomes vacant-- 8
(a) if the public guardian-- 9
(i) resigns office by signed notice to the Minister 10
giving at least 1 month's notice; or 11
(ii) is convicted of an indictable offence; or 12
(iii) is a person who is an insolvent under 13
administration under the Corporations Act, section 14
9; or 15
(iv) is removed from office by the Governor in Council 16
under subsection (2); or 17
(b) if the public guardian is suspended by the Minister 18
under subsection (4)--during the period of suspension. 19
(2) The Governor in Council may, at any time, remove the public 20
guardian from office on the recommendation of the Minister. 21
(3) The Minister may recommend the public guardian's removal 22
if the Minister is satisfied the public guardian-- 23
(a) has been guilty of misconduct; or 24
(b) is incapable of performing his or her duties; or 25
(c) has neglected his or her duties or performed them 26
incompetently. 27
(4) The Minister may suspend the public guardian for up to 60 28
days by signed notice to the public guardian if-- 29
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 1 Appointment of public guardian and related provisions
[s 98]
(a) there is an allegation of misconduct against the public 1
guardian; or 2
(b) the Minister is satisfied a matter has arisen in relation to 3
the public guardian that may be grounds for removal 4
under this section. 5
98 Preservation of rights of public guardian 6
(1) This section applies if a public service officer is appointed as 7
the public guardian. 8
(2) The person keeps all rights accrued or accruing to the person 9
as a public service officer as if service as public guardian were 10
a continuation of service as a public service officer. 11
(3) At the end of the person's term of office or on resignation as 12
the public guardian, the person's service as public guardian is 13
taken to be service of a like nature in the public service for 14
deciding the person's rights as a public service officer. 15
99 Acting public guardian 16
(1) If there is a vacancy in the office of public guardian or the 17
public guardian is absent or for any other reason is unable to 18
perform the functions of the office, the Minister may appoint a 19
person to act as public guardian for a period of not more than 20
6 months. 21
(2) A person can not be appointed to act as the public guardian 22
unless the Minister could recommend the person be appointed 23
as public guardian under section 92. 24
(3) A person appointed to act as public guardian may be 25
appointed to act as public guardian for a further period-- 26
(a) by the Minister, if the appointment is continuous on 1 or 27
more of the person's previous appointments as acting 28
public guardian and the total period of continuous 29
appointments is not more than 6 months; or 30
(b) by the Governor in Council in other circumstances. 31
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 2 Office and staff of the public guardian
[s 100]
(4) The Governor in Council may at any time cancel the 1
appointment of a person to act as public guardian. 2
Part 2 Office and staff of the public 3
guardian 4
100 Office 5
(1) An office called the office of the public guardian is 6
established. 7
(2) The office of the public guardian consists of the public 8
guardian and the staff of the office. 9
101 Control of the office 10
(1) The public guardian is to control the office. 11
(2) Subsection (1) does not prevent the attachment of the office to 12
the department for the purpose of ensuring that the office is 13
supplied with the administrative support services that it 14
requires to carry out its functions effectively and efficiently. 15
Note-- 16
The public trustee also provides the public guardian with financial and 17
other resources approved by the Minister. See the Public Trustee Act 18
1978, s 63A. 19
102 Staff 20
(1) The staff of the office are employed under the Public Service 21
Act 2008. 22
(2) The following persons are not staff of the office-- 23
(a) a person consulted, employed or remunerated under 24
section 103; 25
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Part 2 Office and staff of the public guardian
[s 103]
(b) a person holding appointment as a community visitor. 1
103 Consultation and employment of professionals, etc. 2
(1) In performing the public guardian's functions, the public 3
guardian may consult with, employ, and remunerate the 4
medical, legal, accounting or other professionals the public 5
guardian considers necessary. 6
(2) Also, in performing the public guardian's functions, the 7
public guardian may-- 8
(a) obtain help from someone else whom the public 9
guardian considers to be appropriately qualified to give 10
the help; and 11
(b) cooperate with any service provider or other entity 12
providing services or dealing with issues affecting 13
children. 14
Example-- 15
The public guardian may enter into arrangements to secure a service 16
provider's cooperation to obtain information about services or issues 17
affecting children. 18
(3) The public guardian is entitled to reimbursement from an 19
adult for remuneration paid under subsection (1) in relation to 20
the adult. 21
(4) In this section-- 22
service provider includes an entity providing a service under 23
an arrangement that involves a written agreement to which a 24
service provider is a party. 25
Example-- 26
services provided to children under foster care arrangements 27
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 3 External contractors
[s 104]
Part 3 External contractors 1
104 Engaging external contractor 2
(1) The public guardian may, in writing, authorise an entity (an 3
external contractor) to perform a child advocate function 4
(authorised function) the public guardian may perform under 5
this Act. 6
(2) However, the public guardian may not authorise an external 7
contractor-- 8
(a) to provide the community visitor program (child); or 9
(b) to perform the functions of a community visitor (child); 10
or 11
(c) to apply for a warrant under section 78. 12
(3) When performing an authorised function, an external 13
contractor has the same powers as the public guardian, 14
including a power of delegation, but not including the power 15
to authorise an external contractor under subsection (1). 16
(4) The public guardian may give the authority subject to stated 17
conditions and limitations, including, for example, a 18
condition-- 19
(a) that a particular power only be exercised subject to a 20
decision of the public guardian; or 21
Example-- 22
a condition requiring the external contractor to obtain the public 23
guardian's approval before delegating a particular power 24
(b) imposing particular duties on the external contractor's 25
employees. 26
Examples-- 27
· a condition requiring the external contractor to ensure the 28
contractor's employees receive the training required by the 29
public guardian 30
· a condition requiring the external contractor to ensure the 31
contractor's employees are subject to the equivalent of the 32
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 3 External contractors
[s 105]
approved code of conduct for public service agencies, and 1
any approved standard of practice for the office of the public 2
guardian, under the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 3
(5) The authorisation of an external contractor to perform an 4
authorised function does not relieve the public guardian of the 5
public guardian's obligation to ensure the function is properly 6
performed. 7
(6) Laws apply to the external contractor, and to persons in 8
relationship to the external contractor, in the performance of 9
an authorised function, or in the exercise of a power for an 10
authorised function, as if the external contractor were the 11
public guardian. 12
(7) In this section-- 13
entity does not include a public service employee. 14
105 Acts applying to external contractor 15
(1) The Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information 16
Privacy Act 2009, chapter 3 apply to an external contractor 17
prescribed under a regulation as if-- 18
(a) the contractor were an agency; and 19
(b) the holder of a specified office, prescribed by regulation, 20
of the contractor were the chief executive officer of the 21
contractor; and 22
(c) the Minister were the responsible Minister. 23
(2) The Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 applies to an external 24
contractor prescribed under a regulation as if-- 25
(a) the contractor were a unit of public administration; and 26
(b) the holder of a specified office, prescribed by regulation, 27
of the contractor were the chief executive officer of the 28
contractor; and 29
(c) a person employed by the contractor were a person 30
holding an appointment in a unit of public 31
administration. 32
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 3 External contractors
[s 106]
(3) The Judicial Review Act 1991 applies to an external 1
contractor prescribed under a regulation as if-- 2
(a) the contractor were a State authority; and 3
(b) a decision of an administrative character made, 4
proposed to be made, or required to be made, by the 5
contractor or a person employed by the contractor, 6
whether or not in the exercise of a discretion, were a 7
decision to which that Act applies. 8
(4) The Ombudsman Act 2001 applies to an external contractor 9
prescribed under a regulation as if-- 10
(a) the contractor were an agency; and 11
(b) the holder of a specified office, prescribed by regulation, 12
of the contractor were the chief executive officer of the 13
contractor; and 14
(c) a person employed by the contractor were an officer of 15
an agency; and 16
(d) the Minister were the responsible Minister. 17
(5) The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 applies to an external 18
contractor as if-- 19
(a) the contractor were a public sector entity; and 20
(b) a person employed by the contractor were a public 21
officer; and 22
(c) the holder of a specified office, prescribed by regulation, 23
of the contractor were the chief executive officer of the 24
contractor. 25
106 Review of external contractor's performance 26
(1) The public guardian may appoint an appropriately qualified 27
person to review an external contractor's performance of its 28
authorised functions. 29
(2) The external contractor must allow the person unlimited 30
access to-- 31
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 4 Appointment of community visitors and child advocacy officers and related provisions
[s 107]
(a) records relating to the performance of the authorised 1
functions; or 2
(b) persons employed or engaged by the contractor; or 3
(c) anything else stated in the appointment. 4
(3) The person must prepare a report on the review for the public 5
guardian and give it to the public guardian. 6
Part 4 Appointment of community 7
visitors and child advocacy 8
officers and related provisions 9
107 Appointment 10
(1) The public guardian may appoint a person to be-- 11
(a) a community visitor (adult); or 12
(b) a community visitor (child); or 13
(c) both a community visitor (adult) and a community 14
visitor (child); or 15
(d) a child advocacy officer. 16
(2) An appointment may be on a full-time, part-time or casual 17
basis. 18
108 Eligibility for appointment as community visitor (adult) 19
(1) A person is eligible for appointment as a community visitor 20
(adult) only if the public guardian considers the person has 21
knowledge, experience or skills needed to perform the 22
functions of a community visitor (adult). 23
(2) However, a person may not hold office as a community visitor 24
(adult) while the person-- 25
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[s 109]
(a) is a public service employee of the disability services 1
department or the health department; or 2
(b) has a direct pecuniary interest in any contract with the 3
disability services department or the health department; 4
or 5
(c) has a direct pecuniary interest in any visitable site. 6
(3) In appointing persons as community visitors (adult), the 7
public guardian must take into account the desirability of 8
community visitors (adult)-- 9
(a) having a range of knowledge, experience or skills 10
relevant to the exercise of the functions of community 11
visitors (adult); and 12
(b) reflecting the social and cultural diversity of the general 13
community. 14
(4) A community visitor (adult) is appointed under this Act and 15
not under the Public Service Act 2008. 16
(5) For subsection (2), a person is taken to have a direct pecuniary 17
interest if the person's spouse has a direct pecuniary interest. 18
109 Eligibility for appointment as community visitor (child) 19
(1) A person is eligible for appointment as a community visitor 20
(child) only if the public guardian considers the person has the 21
knowledge, experience or skills needed to perform the 22
functions of a community visitor (child). 23
(2) However, a person may not hold office as a community visitor 24
(child) while the person is-- 25
(a) a member of the police service; or 26
(b) a public service employee employed in-- 27
(i) the child safety department; or 28
(ii) the corrective services department; or 29
(iii) the disability services department; or 30
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[s 110]
(iv) the health department; or 1
(v) the youth justice department; or 2
(c) engaged in any capacity in relation to a correctional 3
institution, other than as an official visitor under the 4
Corrective Services Act 2006; or 5
(d) an approved carer under the Child Protection Act. 6
(3) In appointing persons as community visitors (child), the 7
public guardian must take into account the desirability of 8
community visitors (child)-- 9
(a) having a range of knowledge, experience or skills 10
relevant to the exercise of the functions of community 11
visitors (child); and 12
(b) reflecting the social and cultural diversity of children in 13
Queensland. 14
(4) A community visitor (child) is appointed under this Act and 15
not under the Public Service Act 2008. 16
110 Eligibility for appointment as child advocacy officer 17
A person is eligible for appointment as a child advocacy 18
officer only if the person is a member of the public guardian's 19
staff and the public guardian considers the person has the 20
knowledge, experience or skills needed to perform the 21
functions of a child advocacy officer. 22
111 Duration of appointment as community visitor 23
(1) A community visitor holds office for a term of not longer than 24
3 years stated in the visitor's instrument of appointment. 25
Note-- 26
A community visitor may be reappointed--see the Acts Interpretation 27
Act 1954, section 25(1)(c). 28
(2) A community visitor may resign office by signed notice of 29
resignation given to the public guardian. 30
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[s 111]
(3) The public guardian may terminate the appointment of a 1
community visitor if the public guardian is satisfied the 2
community visitor-- 3
(a) has become physically or mentally incapable of 4
satisfactorily performing the duties of a community 5
visitor; or 6
(b) has performed the community visitor's duties carelessly, 7
incompetently or inefficiently; or 8
(c) is guilty of misconduct that could warrant dismissal 9
from the public service if the community visitor were a 10
public service officer; or 11
(d) has been found guilty of an offence the public guardian 12
considers makes the person unsuitable to perform the 13
duties of a community visitor. 14
(4) Also, the public guardian may, by written notice given to a 15
person, suspend the appointment of the person as a 16
community visitor if-- 17
(a) the public guardian reasonably suspects a ground 18
mentioned in subsection (3) may exist in relation to the 19
person; and 20
(b) the public guardian needs to make investigations about 21
the person to help the public guardian decide whether 22
the person is suitable to continue to be a community 23
visitor. 24
(5) A suspension under subsection (4) starts on the day the person 25
is given written notice of the suspension and ends on the 26
earliest of the following-- 27
(a) the day the public guardian gives the person written 28
notice that the suspension has ended; 29
(b) the day the public guardian terminates the person's 30
appointment as a community visitor; 31
(c) the day that is 30 days after the day the suspension 32
starts. 33
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[s 112]
(6) The public guardian must terminate the appointment of a 1
community visitor (adult) if the chief executive is satisfied the 2
visitor is a person who may not hold office as a community 3
visitor (adult) under section 108(2). 4
(7) The public guardian must terminate the appointment of a 5
community visitor (child) if the chief executive is satisfied the 6
visitor is a person who may not hold office as a community 7
visitor (child) under section 109(2). 8
112 Terms of appointment of community visitors 9
(1) The public guardian must decide the remuneration and 10
allowances payable to community visitors. 11
(2) A community visitor is entitled to be paid the remuneration 12
and allowances decided by the public guardian. 13
(3) To the extent this Act does not state the terms on which a 14
community visitor holds office, the visitor holds office on the 15
terms decided by the public guardian and stated in the 16
visitor's instrument of appointment. 17
113 Limitation of powers 18
(1) The powers of a community visitor or child advocacy officer 19
may be limited-- 20
(a) by regulation; or 21
(b) under a condition of appointment; or 22
(c) by written notice of the public guardian given to the 23
visitor or officer. 24
(2) Notice under subsection (1)(c) may be given orally, but must 25
be confirmed in writing as soon as practicable after it is given. 26
114 Identity card 27
(1) The public guardian must give each community visitor and 28
each child advocacy officer an identity card. 29
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[s 115]
(2) The identity card must-- 1
(a) contain a recent photo of the visitor or officer; and 2
(b) be in the approved form; and 3
(c) be signed by the visitor or officer; and 4
(d) identify the person as-- 5
(i) a community visitor (adult) under this Act; or 6
(ii) a community visitor (child) under this Act; or 7
(iii) a community visitor (adult) and a community 8
visitor (child) under this Act; or 9
(iv) a child advocacy officer under this Act; and 10
(e) state the expiry date for the card. 11
115 Failure to return identity card 12
A person who ceases to be a community visitor or child 13
advocacy officer must return the person's identity card to the 14
public guardian within 21 days after ceasing to be a 15
community visitor or child advocacy officer, unless the person 16
has a reasonable excuse. 17
Maximum penalty--10 penalty units. 18
116 Production or display of identity card 19
A community visitor or child advocacy officer may exercise a 20
power in relation to another person only if the visitor or 21
officer-- 22
(a) first produces his or her identity card for the person's 23
inspection; or 24
(b) has the visitor's or officer's identity card displayed so it 25
is clearly visible to the other person. 26
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Chapter 5 Administration
Part 5 Assessing suitability of persons to be engaged in particular employment
[s 117]
Part 5 Assessing suitability of 1
persons to be engaged in 2
particular employment 3
117 Person seeking to be engaged by the public guardian 4
must disclose criminal history 5
A person seeking to be engaged by the public guardian as a 6
community visitor or child advocacy officer must disclose to 7
the public guardian, before being engaged-- 8
(a) whether or not the person has a criminal history; and 9
(b) if the person has a criminal history--the person's 10
complete criminal history. 11
118 Investigations about suitability of applicant to be 12
community visitor or child advocacy officer 13
(1) The public guardian may make investigations about a person 14
to help the public guardian decide whether the person is 15
suitable to be a community visitor or child advocacy officer. 16
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the public guardian may ask 17
the commissioner of the police service for a written report 18
about the criminal history of the person. 19
(3) The commissioner must give the report to the public guardian. 20
(4) However, the report is required to contain only criminal 21
history the commissioner has, or has access to. 22
119 Community visitor or child advocacy officer to disclose 23
change in criminal history 24
(1) This section applies if there is a change in the criminal history 25
of a community visitor or child advocacy officer. 26
(2) The visitor or officer must immediately disclose the details of 27
the change to the public guardian. 28
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[s 120]
(3) The disclosure under subsection (2) must be in the approved 1
form. 2
(4) Information disclosed in the approved form by the visitor or 3
officer about a conviction or charge for an offence in the 4
visitor's or officer's criminal history must include-- 5
(a) the existence of the conviction or charge; and 6
(b) when the offence was committed or alleged to have been 7
committed; and 8
(c) the details of the offence or alleged offence; and 9
(d) for a conviction--whether or not a conviction was 10
recorded and the sentence imposed on the visitor or 11
officer. 12
(5) For a visitor or officer who does not have a criminal history, 13
there is taken to be a change in the visitor's or officer's 14
criminal history if the visitor or officer acquires a criminal 15
history. 16
120 Failing to make disclosure or making false, misleading or 17
incomplete disclosure 18
(1) A community visitor or child advocacy officer must not-- 19
(a) fail to give the public guardian a disclosure as required 20
under section 117 or 119, unless the visitor or officer 21
has a reasonable excuse; or 22
(b) give the public guardian an approved form under section 23
119 that is false, misleading or incomplete in a material 24
particular. 25
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units or 2 years 26
imprisonment. 27
(2) Subsection (1)(b) does not apply to a visitor or officer in 28
relation to particular information that the visitor or officer is 29
unable to provide if the visitor or officer-- 30
(a) indicates in the approved form the information that the 31
visitor or officer is unable to provide; and 32
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[s 121]
(b) otherwise gives the information in the approved form to 1
the best of the visitor's or officer's ability. 2
121 Person to be advised of information obtained from 3
commissioner of the police service 4
(1) This section applies to information obtained by the public 5
guardian about a person under section 118 from the 6
commissioner of the police service. 7
(2) Before using the information to assess the person's suitability 8
to be a community visitor or child advocacy officer, the public 9
guardian must-- 10
(a) disclose the information to the person; and 11
(b) allow the person a reasonable opportunity to make 12
representations to the public guardian about the 13
information. 14
122 Use of information obtained under this part 15
(1) This section applies to the public guardian in considering 16
information about a person received under this part. 17
(2) The information must not be used for any purpose other than 18
assessing the person's suitability to be a community visitor or 19
child advocacy officer. 20
(3) When making the assessment, the public guardian must have 21
regard to the following matters relating to any criminal 22
history-- 23
(a) when the offence was committed or was alleged to have 24
been committed; 25
(b) the nature of the offence and its relevance to the person's 26
duties or proposed duties as a community visitor or 27
child advocacy officer; 28
(c) anything else the public guardian considers relevant to 29
the assessment of the person. 30
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Part 6 Other provisions
[s 123]
123 Guidelines for dealing with information obtained under 1
this part 2
(1) The public guardian must make guidelines, consistent with 3
this Act, for dealing with information obtained by the public 4
guardian under this part. 5
(2) The purpose of the guidelines is to ensure-- 6
(a) natural justice is afforded to the persons about whom the 7
information is obtained; and 8
(b) only relevant information is used in assessing the 9
persons' suitability to be appointed as community 10
visitors or child advocacy officers; and 11
(c) decisions about the suitability of persons, based on the 12
information, are made consistently. 13
(3) The public guardian must give a copy of the guidelines, on 14
request, to a community visitor or child advocacy officer. 15
Part 6 Other provisions 16
124 Annual report 17
(1) As soon as practicable after the close of each financial year 18
but not later than 4 months after the close, the public guardian 19
must-- 20
(a) prepare a report on the performance of the public 21
guardian's functions during the year, including-- 22
(i) a report on the performance of the adult guardian 23
functions; and 24
(ii) a report on the performance of the child advocate 25
functions; and 26
(b) give a copy of the report to the Minister. 27
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[s 125]
(2) The public guardian must include in the annual report a report 1
on the operations of community visitors during the year, 2
including the number of entries of visitable sites outside 3
normal hours authorised by the public guardian. 4
(3) The Minister must table a copy of the report in the Legislative 5
Assembly within 14 sitting days after receiving the report. 6
125 Not a statutory body for particular Acts 7
To remove any doubt, it is declared that the public guardian is 8
not a statutory body for the Statutory Bodies Financial 9
Arrangements Act 1982 or the Financial Accountability Act 10
2009. 11
Chapter 6 General 12
Part 1 Tribunal provisions (child) 13
126 Meaning of reviewable decision for pt 1 14
(1) In this part-- 15
reviewable decision means any of the following decisions, 16
whether made before or after the commencement of this 17
section-- 18
(a) a decision, under the Child Protection Act, section 19
87(2), by the chief executive (child safety) not to take 20
action under that subsection; 21
(b) a decision by the chief executive (child safety) to take, 22
or not to take, a step under the Child Protection Act, 23
section 122 for the purpose of ensuring a child placed in 24
care under section 82 of that Act is cared for in a way 25
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[s 127]
that meets the statement of standards under section 122 1
of that Act; 2
(c) a reviewable child protection decision. 3
(2) For paragraph (b) of the definition reviewable decision in 4
subsection (1), a failure by the chief executive (child safety) to 5
decide to take a step for the purpose mentioned in that 6
paragraph is taken to be a decision not to take the step. 7
(3) Subsection (4) applies if, in the course of the public guardian 8
seeking to have a reviewable decision resolved to the public 9
guardian's satisfaction-- 10
(a) the chief executive (child safety) amends, or substitutes 11
another reviewable decision for, the first reviewable 12
decision and the amended reviewable decision or 13
substituted reviewable decision does not resolve the 14
matter to the public guardian's satisfaction; or 15
(b) in relation to a failure to take action or to decide to take 16
a step as mentioned in subsection (2)--the chief 17
executive (child safety) actually makes a reviewable 18
decision and the reviewable decision does not resolve 19
the matter to the public guardian's satisfaction. 20
(4) For section 131, the amended or substituted reviewable 21
decision, or the reviewable decision actually made, becomes 22
the reviewable decision. 23
127 References to public guardian 24
(1) A reference in this part to the public guardian includes a 25
reference to someone authorised in writing by the public 26
guardian for this part. 27
(2) A person authorised in writing by the public guardian for this 28
part must, if asked, produce evidence of the authorisation. 29
128 Right to appear, etc. 30
(1) The public guardian-- 31
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[s 129]
(a) is entitled to support a relevant child at, and participate 1
in, conferences or mediations ordered or facilitated by 2
the tribunal and to present the child's views and wishes 3
at the conference or mediation; and 4
(b) has a right to appear before the tribunal in relation to a 5
child protection matter for a child-- 6
(i) to present the child's views and wishes to the 7
tribunal; and 8
(ii) to make submissions, call witnesses and test 9
evidence, including by cross-examining witnesses. 10
(2) If the public guardian intends to attend at a conference or 11
mediation or appear before the tribunal, the public guardian 12
must give written notice of the intention to the principal 13
registrar of the tribunal registry within a reasonable time 14
before the conference, mediation or appearance. 15
(3) However, a failure to give notice as required under subsection 16
(2) does not prevent the public guardian attending at the 17
conference or mediation or appearing before the tribunal. 18
129 Tribunal to advise public guardian of hearing relating to 19
child protection matters 20
(1) This section applies only to child protection matters identified 21
by the public guardian under an arrangement agreed with the 22
principal registrar of the tribunal registry. 23
(2) At least 7 days before the hearing of a child protection matter 24
of a type agreed under subsection (1), the principal registrar 25
must give notice of the hearing to the public guardian. 26
(3) The tribunal may, by direction under the QCAT Act, section 27
62, reduce the time stated in subsection (2). 28
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Part 1 Tribunal provisions (child)
[s 130]
130 Access 1
(1) This section applies to a proceeding in relation to a child 2
protection matter mentioned in section 129 at which the 3
public guardian appears or intends to appear. 4
(2) If-- 5
(a) a document has been filed in the tribunal registry for the 6
proceeding; or 7
(b) a document or other thing has been produced to the 8
tribunal or a party to the proceeding under an order 9
under the QCAT Act, section 63 or 97; 10
subject to subsection (3), the public guardian must be given a 11
reasonable opportunity to access the document or thing 12
before, during or after a hearing. 13
(3) However, the public guardian may access a document filed in 14
the registry or a document or thing produced to the tribunal 15
under an order under section 63 only if a party to the 16
proceeding may also access the document or thing. 17
(4) If a party to whom a document or thing has been produced 18
fails to give the public guardian access to the document or 19
thing, the tribunal may, on the public guardian's application, 20
make an order requiring the party to give the public guardian 21
access to the document or thing. 22
(5) Without limiting section 128(1)(b), the public guardian may 23
make submissions about a document or other information 24
accessed under this section. 25
(6) This section has effect despite the Child Protection Act, 26
section 99ZF. 27
(7) However, the tribunal may displace the right to access a 28
document or other information only by a confidentiality order. 29
(8) In this section-- 30
confidentiality order see the Child Protection Act, section 31
99ZD. 32
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Part 1 Tribunal provisions (child)
[s 131]
131 Public Guardian may apply for review of reviewable 1
decisions 2
(1) This section applies if, in performing the public guardian's 3
child advocate functions in relation to a relevant child, the 4
public guardian-- 5
(a) is dissatisfied with a reviewable decision; and 6
(b) has been unable to resolve the matter with the chief 7
executive (child safety) to the public guardian's 8
satisfaction. 9
(2) The public guardian may apply, on behalf of the child or on 10
the public guardian's own initiative, to the tribunal to have the 11
reviewable decision reviewed. 12
(3) The public guardian may apply to the tribunal only if the 13
public guardian is satisfied that to do so would be in the 14
child's best interests. 15
(4) Before the public guardian may apply to the tribunal to have 16
the reviewable decision reviewed, the public guardian must 17
give the chief executive (child safety) a written notice 18
stating-- 19
(a) the public guardian is dissatisfied with the decision; and 20
(b) the reasons the public guardian is dissatisfied with the 21
decision; and 22
(c) the matter has not been resolved to the public guardian's 23
satisfaction; and 24
(d) the public guardian intends to apply to the tribunal for a 25
review of the decision. 26
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Chapter 6 General
Part 2 Evidence and legal proceedings
[s 132]
Part 2 Evidence and legal 1
proceedings 2
132 Proof of status as relevant child 3
(1) This section applies to a proceeding under or in relation to this 4
Act and for any other purpose. 5
(2) A certificate signed by the public guardian that an identified 6
child is or was a relevant child at a stated time or during a 7
stated period is proof that the child is or was a relevant child at 8
the stated time or during the stated period. 9
133 Evidentiary provisions 10
(1) This section applies to a proceeding under or in relation to this 11
Act. 12
(2) Unless a party, by reasonable notice, requires proof of-- 13
(a) the appointment of a community visitor or child 14
advocacy officer under this Act; or 15
(b) the authority of a community visitor or child advocacy 16
officer to do something under this Act; 17
the appointment or authority must be presumed. 18
(3) A signature purporting to be the signature of the public 19
guardian, a community visitor or child advocacy officer is 20
evidence of the signature it purports to be. 21
(4) A certificate purporting to be signed by the public guardian 22
stating either of the following matters is evidence of the 23
matter-- 24
(a) a stated document is a copy of a notice given or issued 25
under this Act; 26
(b) on a stated day, a stated person was given a stated notice 27
under this Act. 28
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Chapter 6 General
Part 3 False or misleading statements or documents
[s 134]
134 Proceeding for offences 1
A proceeding for an offence against this Act must be taken in 2
a summary way under the Justices Act 1886. 3
135 When proceeding may start 4
A proceeding for an offence against this Act may be started 5
within-- 6
(a) 1 year after the offence is committed; or 7
(b) 1 year after the offence comes to the complainant's 8
knowledge, but within 2 years after the offence is 9
committed. 10
Part 3 False or misleading statements 11
or documents 12
136 False or misleading statements 13
A person must not state anything to the public guardian the 14
person knows is false or misleading in a material particular. 15
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 16
137 False or misleading documents 17
(1) A person must not give the public guardian a document 18
containing information the person knows is false or 19
misleading in a material particular. 20
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 21
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person if the person, when 22
giving the document-- 23
(a) tells the public guardian, to the best of the person's 24
ability, how it is false or misleading; and 25
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Chapter 6 General
Part 4 Confidentiality
[s 138]
(b) if the person has, or can reasonably obtain, the correct 1
information--gives the correct information. 2
Part 4 Confidentiality 3
138 Confidentiality of information 4
(1) This section applies to confidential information. 5
(2) If a person gains confidential information through 6
involvement in the administration of this Act, the 7
Guardianship Act or the Powers of Attorney Act, the person 8
must not-- 9
(a) make a record of the information or intentionally 10
disclose the information to anyone, other than under 11
subsection (4); or 12
(b) recklessly disclose the information to anyone. 13
Maximum penalty--200 penalty units. 14
(3) A person gains confidential information through involvement 15
in the administration of this Act, the Guardianship Act or the 16
Powers of Attorney Act if the person gains the information 17
because of being, or an opportunity given by being-- 18
(a) the Minister or a member of the Minister's staff; or 19
(b) the public guardian; or 20
(c) a member of the public guardian's staff, including a 21
child advocacy officer; or 22
(d) a community visitor; or 23
(e) a person consulted or employed by the public guardian 24
for this Act; or 25
(f) a public guardian's delegate for an investigation; or 26
(g) an external contractor; or 27
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Chapter 6 General
Part 4 Confidentiality
[s 138]
(h) a person authorised in writing by the public guardian 1
under section 127. 2
(4) A person may make a record of confidential information or 3
disclose it to someone else-- 4
(a) for this Act, the Guardianship Act or the Powers of 5
Attorney Act; or 6
(b) to discharge a function under another law; or 7
(c) for a proceeding in a court or the tribunal; or 8
(d) if authorised by a court or the tribunal in the interests of 9
justice; or 10
(e) if authorised by regulation or another law; or 11
(f) if the person is authorised in writing by the person to 12
whom the information relates; or 13
(g) for the purpose of obtaining counselling, advice or other 14
treatment for the person to whom the information 15
relates; or 16
(h) for the purpose of reporting a suspected offence to a 17
police officer or helping a police officer in the 18
investigation of a suspected offence; or 19
(i) if the confidential information relates to an adult with 20
impaired capacity for a matter-- 21
(i) to prevent a serious risk to the adult's life, health or 22
safety; or 23
(ii) for the purpose of obtaining legal or financial 24
advice; or 25
(iii) to assist the public advocate in the performance of 26
functions under the Guardianship Act; or 27
(j) if the confidential information relates to a child--for a 28
purpose related to protecting the child's rights and 29
interests, including the child's wellbeing or protection. 30
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Chapter 6 General
Part 4 Confidentiality
[s 139]
139 Confidentiality of information given by persons involved 1
in administration of Act to other persons 2
(1) This section applies to a person (the receiver) who is given 3
confidential information under section 138(4). 4
(2) The receiver must not use or disclose the information to 5
anyone else. 6
Maximum penalty--200 penalty units. 7
(3) However, the receiver may use or disclose the information to 8
someone else-- 9
(a) if the use or disclosure is authorised by the public 10
guardian; or 11
(b) if the use or disclosure is otherwise required or 12
permitted by law. 13
140 Disclosure of information about investigations 14
(1) Section 138 does not prevent the public guardian from 15
disclosing information to the public or a section of the public 16
about an issue the subject of an investigation by the public 17
guardian if the public guardian is satisfied the disclosure is 18
necessary and reasonable in the public interest. 19
(2) In deciding whether the disclosure is necessary and 20
reasonable in the public interest, the public guardian must 21
have regard to the following-- 22
(a) any likely prejudice to the investigation; 23
(b) any need to protect the identity of a complainant or 24
another entity; 25
(c) any circumstances of urgency. 26
(3) Also, if the disclosure would include information adverse to 27
an entity and procedural fairness would ordinarily require the 28
public guardian to give the entity notice of the information 29
and an opportunity to comment on it, the public guardian-- 30
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Chapter 6 General
Part 5 Miscellaneous
[s 141]
(a) must have regard to this fact in deciding whether the 1
disclosure is necessary and reasonable in the public 2
interest; but 3
(b) may decide the disclosure is necessary and reasonable in 4
the public interest despite the entity not being given 5
notice of the information and an opportunity to 6
comment on it. 7
141 Disclosure by public guardian of information for research 8
purposes 9
(1) The public guardian may disclose the information to a person 10
undertaking research if-- 11
(a) the public guardian is satisfied the research is genuine; 12
and 13
(b) the person gives a written undertaking to preserve the 14
confidentiality of the information and the anonymity of 15
the person to whom the information relates. 16
(2) The person must not contravene the undertaking. 17
Maximum penalty--200 penalty units. 18
(3) If the person contravenes the undertaking and by contravening 19
it also contravenes the Child Protection Act, section 189, the 20
person may be prosecuted under this section or the Child 21
Protection Act, section 189 at the election of the prosecution. 22
Part 5 Miscellaneous 23
142 Complaints agency or other government service provider 24
to inform public guardian about actions taken for 25
complaint 26
(1) The public guardian may-- 27
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Chapter 6 General
Part 5 Miscellaneous
[s 142]
(a) make a complaint about services provided by a service 1
provider to a relevant child to a complaints agency or 2
other government service provider; or 3
(b) on behalf of a relevant child, refer a complaint about the 4
services to a complaints agency or other government 5
service provider. 6
(2) If the public guardian makes a complaint or refers a complaint 7
under subsection (1), the public guardian, by written notice to 8
the complaints agency or government service provider, may 9
ask for information about-- 10
(a) the outcome of the complaint, including any action 11
taken to address the complaint; or 12
(b) a decision not to investigate or to continue to investigate 13
the complaint and the reasons for the decision. 14
(3) The complaints agency or government service provider must 15
comply with a request for information from the public 16
guardian under subsection (2). 17
(4) Subsection (3) applies despite any express provision in an Act 18
establishing a complaints agency that makes it an offence for 19
anyone involved with administration of the Act to disclose the 20
information. 21
(5) In this section-- 22
complaints agency means any of the following-- 23
(a) the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner under the 24
Anti-Discrimination Act 1991; 25
(b) the Crime and Misconduct Commission under the 26
Crime and Misconduct Act 2001; 27
(c) the Health Ombudsman under the Health Ombudsman 28
Act 2013; 29
(d) the ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 2001. 30
service provider includes an entity providing a service under 31
an arrangement that involves a written agreement to which the 32
service provider is a party. 33
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[s 143]
Example-- 1
services provided to children under foster care arrangements 2
143 Protection from liability 3
(1) An official is not civilly liable for an act done, or omission 4
made, honestly and without negligence under this Act, the 5
Guardianship Act or the Powers of Attorney Act. 6
(2) If subsection (1) prevents a civil liability attaching to an 7
official, the liability attaches instead to the State. 8
(3) However, no-one, including the State, is liable for an honest 9
report by a community visitor under section 47 or 70. 10
(4) In this section-- 11
official means-- 12
(a) the Minister; or 13
(b) a community visitor; or 14
(c) a person consulted or employed by the public guardian; 15
or 16
(d) a person acting under the direction of the public 17
guardian or a member of the public guardian's staff. 18
144 Delegation 19
(1) The public guardian may delegate the public guardian's 20
functions and powers under this Act or another Act (other 21
than the powers under section 25(1), 29 and 104) to-- 22
(a) an appropriately qualified member of the public 23
guardian's staff; or 24
(b) another individual, including a community visitor, who 25
the public guardian considers is an appropriately 26
qualified person to perform the functions or exercise the 27
powers delegated to the person. 28
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[s 145]
(2) A person exercising the public guardian's mediation or 1
conciliation power under a delegation must, if asked, produce 2
evidence of the delegation. 3
(3) Also, if the public guardian has power for a personal matter 4
for an adult, the public guardian may delegate the power to 5
make day-to-day decisions about the matter to 1 of the 6
following-- 7
(a) an appropriately qualified person who is caring for the 8
adult; 9
(b) a health provider of the adult; 10
Note-- 11
This is despite an adult's health provider not being eligible to be 12
appointed as the adult's guardian or administrator (see the 13
Guardianship Act, section 14(1) (Appointment of 1 or more 14
eligible guardians and administrators)) or as the adult's attorney 15
(see the Powers of Attorney Act, section 29 (Meaning of eligible 16
attorney)). 17
(c) an attorney under an enduring document; 18
(d) 1 of the persons who could be eligible to be the adult's 19
statutory health attorney. 20
(4) In this section-- 21
day-to-day decision means a minor, uncontroversial decision 22
about day-to-day issues that involves no more than a low risk 23
to the adult. 24
Example of day-to-day decision-- 25
a decision about podiatry, physiotherapy, non-surgical treatment of 26
pressure sores and health care for colds and influenza 27
145 Approved forms 28
The public guardian may approve forms for use under this 29
Act. 30
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[s 146]
146 Regulation-making power 1
The Governor in Council may make regulations under this 2
Act. 3
Chapter 7 Transitional provisions 4
Part 1 Transitional provisions for 5
repealed sections of the 6
Commission for Children and 7
Young People and Child 8
Guardian Act 2000 9
147 Definitions 10
In this part-- 11
commencement means 1 July 2014. 12
commissioner has the meaning given by the former Act. 13
community visitor has the meaning given by the former Act. 14
former Act means the Commission for Children and Young 15
People and Child Guardian Act 2000 as in force immediately 16
before the commencement. 17
identity card means an identity card issued under section 110 18
of the former Act. 19
reviewable decision has the meaning given by the former Act, 20
section 369. 21
staff member has the meaning given by the former Act. 22
visitable home has the meaning given by the former Act. 23
visitable site has the meaning given by the former Act. 24
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[s 148]
148 References to repealed sections 1
In this part, a reference to a repealed section by number is a 2
reference to the repealed section of that number of the former 3
Act. 4
149 Repealed s 90 (Requirement to visit visitable site or 5
communicate if asked) 6
(1) Subsection (2) applies if, before the commencement-- 7
(a) either of the following applies-- 8
(i) a child residing at a visitable site asked a staff 9
member of the site under repealed section 90(1)(b) 10
to arrange for a community visitor to visit the site 11
to perform the functions of a community visitor 12
under the former Act; 13
(ii) a child residing at a visitable site informed a staff 14
member of the site under repealed section 90(1)(c) 15
that the child wished to communicate with a stated 16
community visitor; and 17
(b) the staff member had not informed the commissioner of 18
the request before the commencement. 19
(2) The staff member must inform the public guardian of the 20
request as soon as practicable. 21
Maximum penalty--10 penalty units. 22
(3) Subsection (4) applies if-- 23
(a) a child residing at a visitable site asked the 24
commissioner under repealed section 90(1)(a) to arrange 25
for a community visitor to visit the site to perform the 26
functions of a community visitor under the former Act 27
and the visit had not taken place at the commencement; 28
or 29
(b) a staff member at a visitable site advises the public 30
guardian of a request under subsection (2). 31
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(4) The public guardian must arrange for a community visitor 1
(child) to visit the child at the visitable site as soon as 2
practicable to perform the visitor's functions under section 56. 3
150 Repealed s 91 (Requirement to visit visitable home or 4
communicate if asked) 5
(1) Subsection (2) applies if, before the commencement-- 6
(a) either of the following applies-- 7
(i) a child residing in a visitable home asked a carer of 8
the child under repealed section 91(1)(b) to arrange 9
for a community visitor to visit the home to 10
perform the functions of a community visitor under 11
the former Act; 12
(ii) a child residing in a visitable home informed a 13
carer of the child under repealed section 91(1)(c) 14
that the child wished to communicate with a stated 15
community visitor; and 16
(b) the carer had not informed the commissioner of the 17
request before the commencement. 18
(2) The carer must inform the public guardian of the request as 19
soon as practicable. 20
(3) The carer does not commit an offence only by failing to 21
comply with subsection (2). 22
(4) Subsection (5) applies if-- 23
(a) a child residing in a visitable home asked the 24
commissioner under repealed section 91(1)(a) to arrange 25
for a community visitor to visit the home to perform the 26
functions of a community visitor under the former Act 27
and the visit had not taken place at the commencement; 28
or 29
(b) a carer of a child residing in a visitable home advises the 30
public guardian of a request under subsection (2). 31
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(5) The public guardian must arrange for a community visitor 1
(child) to visit the child at the visitable home as soon as 2
practicable to perform the visitor's functions under section 56. 3
151 Repealed s 92 (Report after each visit) 4
(1) This section applies if-- 5
(a) under repealed section 92, a community visitor was 6
required to prepare, and give to the commissioner, a 7
report about a visit under repealed section 90 or 91; and 8
(b) the community visitor had not prepared and given the 9
report the commissioner before the commencement; and 10
(c) on the commencement, the community visitor is 11
appointed a community visitor (child). 12
(2) The community visitor must prepare and give the report to the 13
public guardian as soon as practicable after the 14
commencement. 15
(3) A report given to the public guardian under this section is 16
taken to be a report given under section 70. 17
152 Repealed s 93 (Functions) 18
(1) This section applies if-- 19
(a) in the performance of the function of giving advice or 20
reports as mentioned in repealed section 93(2), a 21
community visitor had prepared, or was in the process 22
of preparing, an advice or report for the commissioner; 23
and 24
(b) the community visitor had not given the advice or report 25
to the commissioner before the commencement; and 26
(c) on the commencement, the community visitor is 27
appointed a community visitor (child). 28
(2) The community visitor may give, or prepare and give, the 29
advice or report to the public guardian. 30
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[s 153]
(3) A report given to the public guardian under this section is 1
taken to be a report given under section 70. 2
153 Repealed s 97 (Issue of warrant) 3
A warrant issued by a magistrate on the application of a 4
community visitor under repealed section 97 in relation to a 5
visitable home and in force on the commencement continues 6
to have effect according to its terms except that it may be 7
executed by the stated community visitor as if it had been 8
issued under section 64 to the stated community visitor as a 9
community visitor (child). 10
154 Repealed s 107 (Appointment) 11
(1) This section applies to a person who, immediately before the 12
commencement, held appointment as a community visitor 13
under repealed section 107. 14
(2) The person is taken to be appointed as a community visitor 15
(child) until whichever of the following first happens-- 16
(a) the day the person is appointed as a community visitor 17
(child) under section 107; 18
(b) the end of 30 September 2014. 19
(3) The terms of the person's appointment as a community visitor 20
under the former Act are taken to be the terms of the person's 21
appointment as a community visitor (child) under this Act, 22
with necessary changes, until changed by the public guardian 23
under this Act. 24
(4) If the person is appointed as a community visitor (child) under 25
section 107 before the end of 30 September 2014, no amount, 26
whether by way of compensation, reimbursement or otherwise 27
is payable by the State for or in connection with the ending of 28
the person's appointment as a community visitor under 29
subsection (2)(a). 30
(5) If the person is not appointed as a community visitor (child) 31
under section 107 before the end of 30 September 2014, no 32
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[s 155]
amount, whether by way of compensation, reimbursement or 1
otherwise is payable by the State for or in connection with the 2
ending of the person's appointment as a community visitor 3
under subsection (2)(b), other than as expressly provided for 4
under the person's terms of appointment or the Industrial 5
Relations Act 1999. 6
(6) For the purpose of working out the person's entitlements 7
under the Industrial Relations Act 1999, employment by the 8
commissioner and employment by the public guardian are 9
taken to be employment by the same employer. 10
(7) A notice under the Industrial Relations Act 1999 given by a 11
person holding appointment as a community visitor under 12
repealed section 107 immediately before the commencement 13
to the commissioner as the person's employer is taken to have 14
been given to the public guardian. 15
(8) If, under the person's instrument of appointment as a 16
community visitor, a decision about an entitlement was 17
required to be made by the commissioner or assistant 18
commissioner, the decision must now be made by the public 19
guardian. 20
155 Repealed s 111 (Failure to return identity card) 21
(1) This section applies to a person who ceased to be a 22
community visitor before the commencement and has not 23
returned the person's identity card to the commissioner before 24
the commencement. 25
(2) The person must return the person's identity card to the public 26
guardian as soon as possible after the commencement (but 27
within 21 days), unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 28
Maximum penalty--10 penalty units. 29
156 Repealed s 370 (Commissioner may apply for review of 30
reviewable decisions) 31
(1) This section applies if, before the commencement-- 32
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(a) the commissioner applied to QCAT to have a reviewable 1
decision reviewed under repealed section 370; and 2
(b) the reviewable decision had not been reviewed. 3
(2) For the purpose of reviewing the reviewable decision-- 4
(a) a reference to the commissioner in a document relevant 5
to the review is taken to be a reference to the public 6
guardian; and 7
(b) the review may proceed as if the application had been 8
made under section 131. 9
157 Transitional regulation-making power 10
(1) A regulation (a transitional regulation) may make provision 11
of a saving or transitional nature about any matter-- 12
(a) for which it is necessary to make provision to allow or 13
facilitate the doing of anything to achieve the transition 14
from the former Act to this Act; and 15
(b) for which this Act does not make provision or sufficient 16
provision. 17
(2) A transitional regulation may have retrospective operation to a 18
day that is not earlier than the day on which this section 19
commences. 20
(3) A transitional regulation must declare it is a transitional 21
regulation. 22
(4) This section and any transitional regulation expire 6 months 23
after this section commences. 24
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Part 2 Transitional provisions for the 1
Guardianship and 2
Administration Act 2000 3
158 Definition 4
In this part-- 5
commencement means 1 July 2014. 6
159 References to adult guardian 7
In an Act or document, a reference to the adult guardian is, if 8
the context permits, taken to be a reference to the public 9
guardian. 10
160 References to repealed sections 11
In this part, a reference to a repealed section by number is a 12
reference to the repealed section of that number of the 13
Guardianship Act. 14
161 Public guardian is successor in law of adult guardian 15
The public guardian is the successor in law of the adult 16
guardian. 17
162 Repealed s 173 (Adult guardian) 18
(1) The person who, immediately before the commencement, 19
held the office of adult guardian goes out of office. 20
(2) However, the person holding the office of adult guardian 21
before the commencement is to be offered appointment to the 22
office of public guardian effective on the commencement. 23
(3) Subsection (2) applies despite section 94. 24
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[s 163]
(4) The Minister must give the person a written notice stating the 1
conditions decided by the Governor in Council for 2
appointment to the office. 3
(5) If the person consents to hold office as the public guardian-- 4
(a) the person holds the office subject to this Act and the 5
conditions decided by the Governor in Council until 12 6
August 2015; and 7
(b) no amount, whether by way of compensation, 8
reimbursement or otherwise is payable by the State for 9
or in connection with the abolition of the adult 10
guardian's office. 11
(6) If the person does not consent to hold office as public 12
guardian, no amount, whether by way of compensation, 13
reimbursement or otherwise is payable by the State for or in 14
connection with the abolition of the adult guardian's office, 15
other than as expressly provided for under the person's 16
contract of employment. 17
(7) It is declared that subsection (6) does not limit or otherwise 18
affect the person's right to a benefit or entitlement that, under 19
the person's contract, had accrued or was accruing 20
immediately before the commencement. 21
(8) Also, if the person does not consent to hold the office, on the 22
commencement, a benefit or entitlement mentioned in 23
subsection (7) ceases to accrue and becomes payable as if-- 24
(a) the person's contract had, according to its terms, been 25
terminated on that day; and 26
(b) the termination is other than by the person. 27
(9) Nothing in this section displaces the operation of the Acts 28
Interpretation Act 1954, section 17. 29
163 Repealed s 177 (Delegation) 30
(1) A delegation made by the adult guardian under repealed 31
section 177(1), (2) or (4) and in force immediately before the 32
commencement continues in force, with necessary changes, as 33
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[s 164]
if the delegation had been made by the public guardian under 1
section 144. 2
(2) A delegation mentioned in subsection (1) ends 12 months 3
after the commencement unless earlier revoked by the public 4
guardian. 5
164 Repealed s 178 (Consultation and employment of 6
professionals) 7
(1) This section applies if, under repealed section 178, the adult 8
guardian consulted or employed a professional under a 9
contract that was in force immediately before the 10
commencement. 11
(2) The contract continues in force according to its terms (with 12
necessary changes) as if it had been entered into by the public 13
guardian under section 103. 14
(3) In this section-- 15
contract includes written arrangement. 16
165 Repealed s 179 (Advice and supervision) 17
(1) An attorney, guardian or administrator who, immediately 18
before the commencement, is subject to the adult guardian's 19
supervision under a written notice given under repealed 20
section 179 continues to be subject to the public guardian's 21
supervision in accordance with the written notice as if the 22
notice had been given by the public guardian under section 18. 23
(2) A requirement made of an attorney under repealed section 179 24
to present a plan of management for approval that has not, on 25
the commencement, been complied with continues to have 26
effect according to its terms as if the notice had been given by 27
the public guardian under section 18. 28
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166 Repealed s 180 (Investigate complaints) 1
A complaint or allegation made to the adult guardian under 2
repealed section 180 that has not been investigated or fully 3
investigated on the commencement may be investigated by the 4
public guardian under section 19. 5
167 Repealed s 181 (Delegate for investigation) 6
(1) This section applies if the adult guardian delegated the adult 7
guardian's powers under repealed chapter 8, part 2 (other than 8
the power to give notice under section 185(1) or 189) to a 9
person to investigate a complaint or allegation and the 10
investigation had not been completed on the commencement. 11
(2) The person may continue to carry out the investigation, make 12
a written report and give a copy of the report to the public 13
guardian as if the delegation had been given by the public 14
guardian under section 20. 15
168 Repealed s 182 (Records and audit) 16
A written notice given by the adult guardian to an attorney or 17
an administrator under repealed section 182 that has not been 18
complied with on the commencement continues to have effect 19
according to its terms (with necessary changes) as if the notice 20
had been given by the public guardian under section 21. 21
169 Repealed s 183 (Right to information) 22
A written notice given by the adult guardian under repealed 23
section 183(2) that has not been complied with on the 24
commencement continues to have effect according to its terms 25
(with necessary changes) as if the notice had been given by 26
the public guardian under section 22. 27
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170 Repealed s 184 (Information by statutory declaration) 1
A written notice given by the adult guardian under repealed 2
section 184(1) that has not been complied with on the 3
commencement continues to have effect according to its terms 4
(with necessary changes) as if the notice had been given by 5
the public guardian under section 23. 6
171 Repealed s 185 (Witnesses) 7
A written notice given by the adult guardian under repealed 8
section 185(1) that has not been complied with on the 9
commencement continues to have effect according to its terms 10
(with necessary changes) as if the notice had been given by 11
the public guardian under section 25. 12
172 Repealed s 186 (Power of court if noncompliance with 13
attendance notice) 14
If a subpoena is issued by a Magistrates Court at the request of 15
the adult guardian requiring the attendance of a person before 16
the court on or after the commencement-- 17
(a) the subpoena continues to have effect as if it had been 18
issued at the request of the public guardian under 19
section 26; and 20
(b) the public guardian may examine the person when the 21
person attends before the court under the subpoena. 22
173 Repealed s 189 (Cost of investigations and audits) 23
(1) A written notice under repealed section 189(1) that has not 24
been complied with on the commencement continues to have 25
effect according to its terms (with necessary changes) as if the 26
notice had been given by the public guardian under section 27
29(1). 28
(2) If-- 29
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[s 174]
(a) an investigation concerning a financial matter or an 1
audit was undertaken under repealed section 189(1) at 2
the request of a person; and 3
(b) the public guardian is satisfied the request was frivolous 4
or vexatious or otherwise without good cause; and 5
(c) no notice had been given by the adult guardian under 6
repealed section 189(1); 7
the public guardian may, by written notice under section 8
29(1), require a person to pay to the public guardian the 9
amount the public guardian considers appropriate for the cost 10
of the investigation or audit. 11
(3) A written notice under repealed section 189(2) that has not 12
been complied with on the commencement continues to have 13
effect according to its terms (with necessary changes) as if the 14
notice had been given by the public guardian under section 15
29(2). 16
(4) If-- 17
(a) an investigation concerning a financial matter or an 18
audit was undertaken under repealed section 189(2); and 19
(b) the public guardian considers the attorney or 20
administrator concerned had contravened the 21
Guardianship Act or the Powers of Attorney Act; and 22
(c) no notice had been given by the adult guardian under 23
repealed section 189(2); 24
the public guardian may, by written notice under section 25
29(2), require the attorney or administrator to personally pay 26
to the public guardian the amount the public guardian 27
considers appropriate for the cost of the investigation or audit. 28
174 Repealed s 193 (Report after investigation or audit) 29
(1) This section applies if the adult guardian carried out or was 30
carrying out an investigation or audit under repealed section 31
189 and had not made and given a written report about the 32
investigation or audit to a person under repealed section 193. 33
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(2) If the investigation or audit was not completed, or a copy of 1
the report was not made and given to a person under repealed 2
section 193, before the commencement, the public guardian 3
may complete the investigation or audit and make and give a 4
copy of the report to the person under section 31. 5
175 Repealed s 194 (Proceedings for protection of property) 6
A proceeding commenced by the adult guardian under 7
repealed section 194 and not finalised before the 8
commencement may be continued by the public guardian. 9
176 Repealed s 195 (Suspension of attorney's power) 10
A written notice given by the adult guardian to an attorney 11
under repealed section 195 and in force immediately before 12
the commencement continues to have effect according to its 13
terms (with necessary changes) as if it had been given by the 14
public guardian under section 34. 15
177 Repealed s 197 (Power to apply for entry and removal 16
warrant) 17
A warrant issued under repealed section 197 and in force on 18
the commencement continues to have effect according to its 19
terms (with necessary changes) and may be executed by the 20
public guardian as if it had been issued under the 21
Guardianship Act, section 149. 22
178 Repealed s 206 (Annual report) 23
(1) The public guardian must prepare an annual report on the 24
performance of the adult guardian's functions for the 25
reporting year 2013-2014. 26
(2) The public guardian must give a copy of the report to the 27
Minister on or before 1 November 2014. 28
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179 Repealed s 224 (Functions) 1
(1) This section applies if-- 2
(a) in the performance of the function of reporting to the 3
chief executive as mentioned in repealed section 224, a 4
community visitor had prepared, or was in the process 5
of preparing, a report for the chief executive; and 6
(b) the community visitor had not given the report to the 7
chief executive before the commencement; and 8
(c) on the commencement, the community visitor is 9
appointed a community visitor (adult). 10
(2) The community visitor may give, or prepare and give, the 11
report to the public guardian. 12
(3) A report given to the public guardian under this section is 13
taken to be a report given under section 41. 14
180 Repealed s 226 (Requirement to visit if asked) 15
(1) Subsection (2) applies if, before the commencement-- 16
(a) under repealed section 226, a consumer at a visitable 17
site, or a person for the consumer, asked a person 18
employed at the visitable site to arrange for a 19
community visitor to visit the visitable site to perform 20
the functions of a community visitor; and 21
(b) the employed person had not informed the chief 22
executive of the request before the commencement. 23
(2) The employed person must inform the public guardian of the 24
request as soon as practicable. 25
Maximum penalty--40 penalty units. 26
(3) Subsection (4) applies if-- 27
(a) a consumer at a visitable site asked the chief executive 28
under repealed section 226 to arrange for a community 29
visitor to visit the site to perform the functions of a 30
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community visitor and the visit had not taken place at 1
the commencement; or 2
(b) the person mentioned in subsection (2) informs the 3
public guardian of a request under subsection (2). 4
(4) The public guardian must arrange for a community visitor 5
(adult) to visit the consumer at the visitable site as soon as 6
practicable to perform the visitor's functions under section 41. 7
181 Repealed s 228 (Chief executive may authorise access 8
outside normal hours) 9
An authority given by the chief executive under repealed 10
section 228 that has not been acted on but is in force on the 11
commencement is taken to be an authority given by the public 12
guardian under section 45. 13
182 Repealed s 230 (Reports by community visitors) 14
(1) This section applies if-- 15
(a) a community visitor had prepared, or was in the process 16
of preparing, a report under repealed section 230 for the 17
chief executive; and 18
(b) the community visitor had not given the report to the 19
chief executive before the commencement. 20
(2) The community visitor may give, or prepare and give, the 21
report to the public guardian. 22
(3) The public guardian may deal with the report as if it had been 23
prepared and given under section 47. 24
183 Repealed s 230A (Investigations about suitability of 25
applicant to be community visitor) 26
(1) This section applies if-- 27
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(a) the chief executive asked the commissioner of the police 1
service for a written report about the criminal history of 2
a person under repealed section 230A; and 3
(b) the commissioner had not given the report to the chief 4
executive before the commencement. 5
(2) The commissioner may give the report to the public guardian. 6
184 Repealed s 231 (Appointment) 7
(1) A person holding appointment as a community visitor under 8
repealed section 231 immediately before the commencement 9
is taken to be a community visitor (adult) appointed under this 10
Act on the commencement. 11
(2) The terms of the person's appointment as a community visitor 12
under the Guardianship Act are taken to be the terms of the 13
person's appointment as a community visitor (adult) under 14
this Act, with necessary changes, until changed by the public 15
guardian under this Act. 16
(3) For the purpose of working out the person's entitlements 17
under this Act or the Industrial Relations Act 1999, 18
employment by the chief executive under repealed section 231 19
and employment by the public guardian are taken to be 20
employment by the same employer. 21
(4) A notice under the Industrial Relations Act 1999 given by a 22
person holding appointment as a community visitor under 23
repealed section 231 immediately before the commencement 24
to the chief executive as the person's employer is taken to 25
have been given to the public guardian. 26
(5) If, under the person's instrument of appointment as a 27
community visitor, a decision about an entitlement was 28
required to be made by the adult guardian or someone on the 29
adult guardian's behalf, the decision must now be made by the 30
public guardian. 31
Page 125
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 7 Transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions for the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
[s 185]
185 Repealed s 232 (Duration of appointment) 1
(1) This section applies if-- 2
(a) the chief executive has, by written notice under repealed 3
section 232(4), suspended the appointment of a person 4
as a community visitor; and 5
(b) the suspension is in force immediately before the 6
commencement. 7
(2) The suspension continues to have effect according to its terms 8
as if the community visitor were a community visitor (adult) 9
under this Act and the person's appointment had been 10
suspended by the public guardian under section 111(4). 11
(3) The person's suspension is to be dealt with under this Act. 12
186 Repealed s 236 (Failure to return identity card) 13
(1) This section applies to a person who ceased to be a 14
community visitor before the commencement and has not 15
returned the person's identity card to the chief executive 16
before the commencement. 17
(2) The person must return the person's identity card to the public 18
guardian as soon as possible after the commencement (but 19
within 21 days), unless the person has a reasonable excuse. 20
Maximum penalty--10 penalty units. 21
187 Repealed s 237 (Annual report by chief executive) 22
(1) The public guardian must prepare an annual report on the 23
operations of community visitors (including the number of 24
entries of visitable sites outside normal hours authorised by 25
the chief executive) for the reporting year 2013-2014. 26
(2) The public guardian must give a copy of the report to the 27
Minister on or before 1 November 2014. 28
Page 126
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 1 Amendment of this Act
[s 188]
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts 1
Part 1 Amendment of this Act 2
188 Act amended 3
This part amends this Act. 4
189 Amendment of long title 5
Long title, from `, and to amend'-- 6
omit. 7
Part 2 Amendment of Child Protection 8
Act 1999 9
190 Act amended 10
This part amends the Child Protection Act 1999. 11
191 Insertion of new s 40A 12
After section 40-- 13
insert-- 14
40A Public guardian to be notified, under an 15
arrangement, of applications etc. for orders 16
(1) The public guardian and the registrar of the 17
Childrens Court at a place may enter into an 18
arrangement under which the registrar advises 19
the public guardian of-- 20
Page 127
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Child Protection Act 1999
[s 192]
(a) all applications for a court assessment order 1
filed at the place; and 2
(b) all hearings of applications at the place 3
identified under the arrangement. 4
(2) The registrar of the Childrens Court must give 5
notice of the applications and hearings to the 6
public guardian in a way, and within the time, 7
agreed with the public guardian under the 8
arrangement. 9
192 Amendment of s 51L (Who should be involved) 10
(1) Section 51L(1)(g) and (h)-- 11
renumber as section 51L(1)(h) and (i). 12
(2) Section 51L(1)-- 13
insert-- 14
(g) the public guardian; 15
193 Amendment of s 51W (Who may participate) 16
(1) Section 51W(1)(g) and (h)-- 17
renumber as section 51W(1)(h) and (i). 18
(2) Section 51W(1)-- 19
insert-- 20
(g) the public guardian; 21
194 Insertion of new s 55A 22
After section 55-- 23
insert-- 24
Page 128
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Child Protection Act 1999
[s 195]
55A Public guardian to be notified, under an 1
arrangement, of applications etc. for orders 2
(1) The public guardian and the registrar of the 3
Childrens Court at a place may enter into an 4
arrangement under which the registrar advises 5
the public guardian of-- 6
(a) all applications for a child protection order 7
filed at the place; and 8
(b) all hearings of applications at the place 9
identified under the arrangement. 10
(2) The registrar of the Childrens Court must give 11
notice of the applications and hearings to the 12
public guardian in a way, and within the time, 13
agreed with the public guardian under the 14
arrangement. 15
195 Amendment of s 70 (Attendance of parties) 16
(1) Section 70(5)-- 17
renumber as section 70(6). 18
(2) Section 70-- 19
insert-- 20
(5) Also, the public guardian may attend the 21
conference. 22
196 Amendment of s 74 (Charter of rights for a child in care) 23
Section 74(4)(c), `Commission for Children and Young People and 24
Child Guardian'-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
public guardian 27
Page 129
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Child Protection Act 1999
[s 197]
197 Amendment of s 99B (Definitions for ch 2A) 1
Section 99B, definition reviewable decision and editor's note-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
reviewable decision includes a reviewable 4
decision under the Public Guardian Act 2014, 5
section 126. 6
198 Replacement of s 99F (Review applications by children's 7
commissioner) 8
Section 99F-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
99F Review applications by public guardian 11
(1) This section applies if the applicant for a review 12
application is the public guardian. 13
(2) The review application must be made within 28 14
days after the public guardian gives notice under 15
the Public Guardian Act 2014, section 131(4) to 16
the chief executive about the reviewable decision. 17
199 Amendment of s 99J (Proceedings relating to this Act 18
must usually be held in private) 19
(1) Section 99J(2)(d) to (f)-- 20
renumber as section 99J(2)(e) to (g). 21
(2) Section 99J(2)-- 22
insert-- 23
(d) the public guardian; 24
200 Amendment of s 99P (Review applications on behalf of 25
children) 26
(1) Section 99P(1), after `person'-- 27
Page 130
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Child Protection Act 1999
[s 201]
insert-- 1
, other than the public guardian, 2
(2) Section 99P(3), after `applicant'-- 3
insert-- 4
, other than the public guardian, 5
201 Insertion of new ss 108B-108D 6
After section 108A-- 7
insert-- 8
108B Right of appearance of public guardian 9
(1) The public guardian may appear in a proceeding 10
on an application for an order for a child. 11
(2) If the public guardian intends to appear at a 12
proceeding, the public guardian must give written 13
notice of the intention to the registrar of the 14
Childrens Court at the place where the hearing is 15
to be conducted within a reasonable time before 16
the hearing of the application starts. 17
(3) However, a failure to give notice as required 18
under subsection (2) does not prevent the public 19
guardian appearing at the hearing. 20
(4) A reference in this part to the public guardian 21
includes a reference to someone authorised in 22
writing by the public guardian for this part. 23
(5) A person authorised in writing by the public 24
guardian for this part must, if asked, produce 25
evidence of the authorisation. 26
108C Public guardian's role at hearing 27
(1) The public guardian's role in a proceeding on an 28
application for an order for a child is-- 29
Page 131
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Child Protection Act 1999
[s 202]
(a) to support the child by presenting the child's 1
views and wishes to the Childrens Court; 2
and 3
(b) to make submissions, call witnesses and test 4
evidence, including by cross-examining 5
witnesses. 6
(2) The public guardian's role in the proceeding is 7
not diminished even if a lawyer is also 8
representing the child. 9
(3) The public guardian is not a party to the 10
proceeding. 11
(4) The public guardian's role in the proceeding ends 12
when the application is decided or withdrawn. 13
108D Access 14
(1) This section applies if, in a proceeding in the 15
Childrens Court on an application for an order for 16
a child, a document is before the court. 17
(2) The public guardian may access a document if a 18
party to the proceeding may also access the 19
document. 20
(3) Without limiting section 108C(1)(b), the public 21
guardian may make submissions about a 22
document accessed under this section. 23
(4) In this section-- 24
document includes information. 25
202 Amendment of s 113 (Court may hear submissions from 26
non-parties to proceeding) 27
Section 113-- 28
insert-- 29
Page 132
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Child Protection Act 1999
[s 203]
(4) This section is subject to sections 108C and 1
108D. 2
203 Insertion of new s 189AA 3
After section 189A-- 4
insert-- 5
189AA Making information available for Public 6
Guardian Act 2014 7
(1) The chief executive may, under arrangements 8
made with the public guardian, make information 9
about a person's affairs, acquired in the 10
administration of this Act, available to the public 11
guardian for the purposes of the Public Guardian 12
Act 2014. 13
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply to 14
information about the identity of a person 15
mentioned in section 186(1) who notifies the 16
chief executive, an authorised officer or a police 17
officer that the person suspects a matter 18
mentioned in section 186(1)(a) or (b). 19
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the arrangement 20
may provide for the electronic transfer of 21
information, including on a daily basis. 22
(4) This section is not limited by, and does not limit, 23
chapter 5A. 24
(5) Section 188 does not apply to information made 25
available under subsection (1). 26
Note-- 27
The Public Guardian Act 2014, chapter 6, part 4, 28
restricts the recording, use and disclosure of stated 29
information. 30
Page 133
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 3 Amendment of Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act
2000
[s 204]
204 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) 1
Schedule 3-- 2
insert-- 3
public guardian means the public guardian under 4
the Public Guardian Act 2014. 5
Part 3 Amendment of Commission for 6
Children and Young People and 7
Child Guardian Act 2000 8
205 Act amended 9
This part amends the Commission for Children and Young 10
People and Child Guardian Act 2000. 11
206 Omission of ch 5 (Community visitors) 12
Chapter 5-- 13
omit. 14
207 Omission of ch 10, pt 1 15
Chapter 10, part 1-- 16
omit. 17
208 Omission of ss 391 and 392 18
Sections 391 and 392-- 19
omit. 20
Page 134
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 3 Amendment of Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act
2000
[s 209]
209 Amendment of sch 7 (Dictionary) 1
(1) Schedule 7, definition carer, community visitor, reviewable 2
decision, staff member, visitable home and visitable site-- 3
omit. 4
(2) Schedule 7-- 5
insert-- 6
carer, in relation to a stand-alone service, means 7
a person-- 8
(a) who is engaged to provide education and 9
care of a child in the course of a stand-alone 10
service; or 11
(b) who is conducting the stand-alone service 12
and providing education and care of 13
children in the course of the service. 14
staff member-- 15
(a) in relation to an education and care 16
service--means an individual employed, 17
appointed or engaged to work in or as part 18
of the service, whether as a family day care 19
co-ordinator, educator or otherwise, and 20
includes the nominated supervisor and a 21
person employed, appointed or engaged as a 22
volunteer; or 23
(b) in relation to a QEC service, see the 24
Education and Care Services Act 2013, 25
schedule 1; or 26
(c) for chapter 11, part 13--see section 465. 27
Page 135
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 4 Amendment of Corrective Services Act 2006
[s 210]
Part 4 Amendment of Corrective 1
Services Act 2006 2
210 Act amended 3
This part amends the Corrective Services Act 2006. 4
211 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) 5
Schedule 4, definition accredited visitor-- 6
insert-- 7
(h) a community visitor (child) under the Public 8
Guardian Act 2014. 9
Part 5 Amendment of Disability 10
Services Act 2006 11
212 Act amended 12
This part amends the Disability Services Act 2006. 13
213 Amendment of s 123E (Definitions for pt 10A) 14
Section 123E, definition short term approval, paragraph (a), `adult 15
guardian'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
public guardian 18
214 Amendment of s 123I (Requirement to keep and 19
implement a policy) 20
Section 123I(d)(iii)-- 21
Page 136
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 5 Amendment of Disability Services Act 2006
[s 215]
omit, insert-- 1
(iii) a community visitor under the Public 2
Guardian Act 2014. 3
215 Amendment of s 123O (Containing or secluding an adult 4
under short term approval) 5
Section 123O(1)(d)(i), `adult guardian'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
public guardian 8
216 Amendment of s 123ZK (Short term approval for use of 9
restrictive practices other than containment or seclusion) 10
Section 123ZK(6)(a), `adult guardian'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
public guardian 13
217 Amendment of s 123ZZF (Notification requirements about 14
approvals given for use of restrictive practices) 15
(1) Section 123ZZF(3) and editor's note-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
(3) If-- 18
(a) a relevant service provider is given a 19
restrictive practice approval authorising the 20
provider to use a restrictive practice at a 21
visitable site as defined under the Public 22
Guardian Act 2014, section 39; and 23
(b) there is no other restrictive practice approval 24
in effect relating to the visitable site; 25
the relevant service provider must, within the 26
required period, give notice to the public 27
guardian. 28
Page 137
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 5 Amendment of Disability Services Act 2006
[s 218]
(2) Section 123ZZF(5), `to the chief executive of the department 1
in which the GAA is administered'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
to the public guardian 4
(3) Section 123ZZF(7), definition limited restrictive practice 5
approval, paragraph (b), `adult guardian'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
public guardian 8
218 Amendment of s 168 (Chief executive may advise people 9
with a disability and others of action taken in relation to 10
funded non-government service providers) 11
(1) Section 168(2)(d) and (e)-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
(d) the public guardian; 14
(2) Section 168(2)(f) to (h)-- 15
renumber as section 168(2)(e) to (g). 16
219 Amendment of sch 7 (Dictionary) 17
(1) Schedule 7, definition adult guardian-- 18
omit. 19
(2) Schedule 7-- 20
insert-- 21
public guardian means the public guardian under 22
the Public Guardian Act 2014. 23
(3) Schedule 7, definition complaints agency, paragraphs (e) and 24
(f)-- 25
omit, insert-- 26
(e) the public guardian. 27
Page 138
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 6 Amendment of Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012
[s 220]
Part 6 Amendment of Domestic and 1
Family Violence Protection Act 2
2012 3
220 Act amended 4
This part amends the Domestic and Family Violence 5
Protection Act 2012. 6
221 Amendment of s 163 (Notification of adult guardian) 7
Section 163, `adult guardian'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
public guardian 10
222 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) 11
(1) Schedule, definition adult guardian-- 12
omit. 13
(2) Schedule-- 14
insert-- 15
public guardian means the public guardian under 16
the Public Guardian Act 2014. 17
Part 7 Amendment of Forensic 18
Disability Act 2011 19
223 Act amended 20
This part amends the Forensic Disability Act 2011. 21
Page 139
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 8 Amendment of Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
[s 224]
224 Amendment of s 26 (Who is allied person if client does 1
not have capacity to choose) 2
Section 26(4)(b)-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
(b) if no-one in the list is willing, readily 5
available, capable and culturally appropriate 6
to be the allied person--the public guardian 7
under the Public Guardian Act 2014. 8
Part 8 Amendment of Guardianship 9
and Administration Act 2000 10
225 Act amended 11
This part amends the Guardianship and Administration Act 12
2000. 13
226 Amendment of long title 14
Long title, `to continue the office of Adult Guardian,'-- 15
omit. 16
227 Amendment of s 7 (Way purpose achieved) 17
(1) Section 7(f) and (i)-- 18
omit. 19
(2) Section 7(g) and (h)-- 20
renumber as section 7(f) and (g). 21
228 Insertion of new s 7A 22
After section 7-- 23
Page 140
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 8 Amendment of Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
[s 229]
insert-- 1
7A Relationship with Public Guardian Act 2014 2
This Act is to be read in conjunction with the Public 3
Guardian Act 2014 which provides for the public 4
guardian and the community visitor program (adult). 5
229 Amendment of various sections 6
(1) Each of the following provisions is amended by omitting 7
`adult guardian' and inserting `public guardian'-- 8
· section 12(3) 9
· section 13A(6)(e) 10
· section 14(1)(a)(ii) and (2) 11
· section 29(1)(c)(v) 12
· section 41(1) 13
· section 42(1) and (2) 14
· section 43(1) and (2) 15
· section 80S(2)(a) 16
· section 80ZA(b)(v) 17
· chapter 5B, part 4 heading 18
· section 80ZH 19
· section 80ZI 20
· section 80ZJ 21
· section 80ZK 22
· section 80ZL 23
· section 80ZM 24
· section 80ZP(e) 25
· section 80ZQ(h) 26
· section 114A(3)(a) 27
Page 141
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 8 Amendment of Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
[s 230]
· section 118(1)(e) 1
· section 119(e) 2
· section 148(1) and (3) 3
· section 149(2)(a) and (b) 4
· section 150(1) and (2) 5
· section 151(1) 6
· section 155(5) 7
· section 163(3), definition eligible person, paragraph 8
(a)(v) 9
· section 213(4) 10
· schedule 1, part 2, section 12(1) and (2) 11
(2) Each of the following provisions is amended by omitting 12
`adult guardian's' and inserting `public guardian's'-- 13
· section 80ZJ(4) 14
· section 80ZL(3) 15
· section 80ZM(2)(c) and (d) 16
· section 149(2)(b) 17
· section 150(1) 18
230 Amendment of s 80ZJ (Adult guardian's decision about 19
whether to approve short term plan) 20
Section 80ZJ, heading-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
80ZJ Public guardian's decision about whether to 23
approve short term plan 24
231 Omission of ch 8 (Adult guardian) 25
Chapter 8-- 26
omit. 27
Page 142
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 8 Amendment of Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
[s 232]
232 Omission of ch 10 (Community visitors) 1
Chapter 10-- 2
omit. 3
233 Amendment of s 246 (Definitions for pt 4) 4
(1) Section 246, definitions adult guardian's delegate for an 5
investigation and relevant person-- 6
omit. 7
(2) Section 246-- 8
insert-- 9
public guardian's delegate for an investigation 10
means a delegate of the public guardian under the 11
Public Guardian Act 2014, section 20(1). 12
relevant person means-- 13
(a) a relevant tribunal person; or 14
(b) the public advocate or a member of the 15
public advocate's staff; or 16
(c) a guardian or administrator. 17
234 Amendment of s 247 (Whistleblowers' protection) 18
(1) Section 247(1), from `this Act'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
this Act, the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 or the Public 21
Guardian Act 2014. 22
(2) Section 247(4), definition official-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
official means-- 25
(a) the principal registrar or a registrar under 26
the QCAT Act or another member of the 27
Page 143
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 8 Amendment of Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
[s 235]
administrative staff of the registry under that 1
Act; or 2
(b) the public guardian, a member of the public 3
guardian's staff or a public guardian's 4
delegate for an investigation under the 5
Public Guardian Act 2014; or 6
(c) the public advocate or a member of the 7
public advocate's staff; or 8
(d) a community visitor (adult) under the Public 9
Guardian Act 2014. 10
235 Amendment of s 248 (Protection from liability if honest 11
and not negligent) 12
(1) Section 248(3)-- 13
omit. 14
(2) Section 248(4)-- 15
renumber as section 248(3). 16
(3) Section 248(3), as renumbered, definition person-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
person means-- 19
(a) the public advocate or a member of the 20
public advocate's staff; or 21
(b) a former member of the former tribunal. 22
236 Amendment of s 248A (Protection for person carrying out 23
forensic examination with consent) 24
Section 248A(3), definition authorised forensic examination, 25
paragraph (b)-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
(b) the public guardian under the Public 28
Guardian Act 2014, section 38. 29
Page 144
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 8 Amendment of Guardianship and Administration Act 2000
[s 237]
237 Amendment of s 248B (Protection from liability for giving 1
information) 2
(1) Section 248B(1)-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
(1) This section applies to the giving of information 5
to the public advocate under section 210A. 6
(2) Section 248B(3), `the adult guardian or'-- 7
omit. 8
238 Amendment of s 249 (Protected use of confidential 9
information) 10
Section 249(3)(i)-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
(i) in assisting the public guardian, the public 13
advocate or a public service officer in the 14
performance of functions under this Act, the 15
Powers of Attorney Act 1998 or the Public 16
Guardian Act 2014. 17
239 Omission of s 250 (Disclosure of information about 18
investigations) 19
Section 250-- 20
omit. 21
240 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) 22
(1) Schedule 4, definitions adult guardian and adult guardian's 23
delegate for an investigation-- 24
omit. 25
(2) Schedule 4-- 26
insert-- 27
Page 145
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 9 Amendment of Health Ombudsman Act 2013
[s 241]
public guardian means the public guardian under 1
the Public Guardian Act 2014. 2
public guardian's delegate for an investigation, 3
for chapter 11, part 4, see section 246. 4
Part 9 Amendment of Health 5
Ombudsman Act 2013 6
241 Act amended 7
This part amends the Health Ombudsman Act 2013. 8
242 Amendment of s 30 (Cooperation with other entities) 9
Section 30(d)-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
(d) the public guardian under the Public 12
Guardian Act 2014; 13
243 Amendment of sch 1 (Amendment of particular Acts) 14
Schedule 1, amendments of Commission for Children and Young 15
People and Child Guardian Act 2000, item 1-- 16
omit. 17
Page 146
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 10 Amendment of Integrity Act 2009
[s 244]
Part 10 Amendment of Integrity Act 1
2009 2
244 Act amended 3
This part amends the Integrity Act 2009. 4
245 Amendment of sch 1 (Statutory office holders for section 5
72C) 6
(1) Schedule 1, entry for Guardianship and Administration Act 7
2000-- 8
omit. 9
(2) Schedule 1-- 10
insert-- 11
Public Guardian Act 2014 12
· the public guardian 13
Part 11 Amendment of Mental Health 14
Act 2000 15
246 Act amended 16
This part amends the Mental Health Act 2000. 17
247 Amendment of s 342 (Who is allied person if patient does 18
not have capacity to choose allied person) 19
Section 342(4)(b)-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
Page 147
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 12 Amendment of Ombudsman Act 2001
[s 248]
(b) if no-one in the list is willing, readily 1
available, capable and culturally appropriate 2
to be the patient's allied person--the public 3
guardian. 4
248 Amendment of s 349 (Interfering with postal articles for 5
patients in high security units) 6
Section 349(4)(e)-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
(e) a community visitor under the Public 9
Guardian Act 2014; 10
249 Amendment of schedule (Dictionary) 11
(1) Schedule, definition adult guardian-- 12
omit. 13
(2) Schedule-- 14
insert-- 15
public guardian means the public guardian under 16
the Public Guardian Act 2014. 17
Part 12 Amendment of Ombudsman 18
Act 2001 19
250 Act amended 20
This part amends the Ombudsman Act 2001. 21
251 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) 22
Schedule 3, definition complaints entity, examples, last dot point-- 23
Page 148
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 13 Amendment of Powers of Attorney Act 1998
[s 252]
omit, insert-- 1
· the public guardian under the Public Guardian Act 2014 2
Part 13 Amendment of Powers of 3
Attorney Act 1998 4
252 Act amended 5
This part amends the Powers of Attorney Act 1998. 6
253 Amendment of s 6A (Relationship with Guardianship and 7
Administration Act 2000) 8
Section 6A(3), from `for'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
for the public advocate. 11
254 Insertion of new s 6B 12
Chapter 1, after section 6A-- 13
insert-- 14
6B Relationship with Public Guardian Act 2014 15
This Act is to be read in conjunction with the Public 16
Guardian Act 2014 which provides for the public 17
guardian and the community visitor (adult) program. 18
255 Amendment of s 29 (Meaning of eligible attorney) 19
Section 29(1)(d) and (2)(c), `adult guardian'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
public guardian 22
Page 149
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 13 Amendment of Powers of Attorney Act 1998
[s 256]
256 Amendment of s 63 (Who is the statutory health attorney) 1
Section 63(2), `adult guardian'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
public guardian 4
257 Amendment of s 74 (Protected use of confidential 5
information) 6
Section 74(3)(i)-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
(i) in assisting the public guardian, the public 9
advocate or a public service officer in the 10
performance of functions under this Act, the 11
Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 12
or the Public Guardian Act 2014. 13
258 Amendment of s 85 (Keep records) 14
Section 85, editor's note-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
Note-- 17
Under the Public Guardian Act 2014, section 21, the public 18
guardian may have the accounts audited. 19
259 Amendment of s 110 (Application and participation) 20
Section 110(3)(d) and (e), `adult guardian'-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
public guardian 23
260 Amendment of s 121 (Report by adult guardian or public 24
trustee) 25
Section 121, `adult guardian'-- 26
Page 150
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 14 Amendment of Public Service Act 2008
[s 261]
omit, insert-- 1
public guardian 2
261 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) 3
(1) Schedule 3, definition adult guardian-- 4
omit. 5
(2) Schedule 3-- 6
insert-- 7
public guardian means the public guardian under 8
the Public Guardian Act 2014. 9
Part 14 Amendment of Public Service 10
Act 2008 11
262 Act amended 12
This part amends the Public Service Act 2008. 13
263 Amendment of sch 1 (Public service offices and their 14
heads) 15
(1) Schedule 1, entry for adult guardian office-- 16
omit. 17
(2) Schedule 1-- 18
insert-- 19
office of the public guardian under the public guardian
Public Guardian Act 2014
Page 151
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 15 Amendment of Public Trustee Act 1978
[s 264]
Part 15 Amendment of Public Trustee 1
Act 1978 2
264 Act amended 3
This part amends the Public Trustee Act 1978. 4
265 Amendment of s 63A (Adult guardian resources) 5
(1) Section 63A, heading, `Adult'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
Public 8
(2) Section 63A(1), `adult guardian' 9
omit, insert-- 10
public guardian 11
(3) Section 63A(1), editor's note-- 12
omit. 13
(4) Section 63A-- 14
insert-- 15
(3) In this section-- 16
public guardian means the public guardian under 17
the Public Guardian Act 2014. 18
Page 152
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 16 Amendment of Residential Services (Accreditation) Act 2002
[s 266]
Part 16 Amendment of Residential 1
Services (Accreditation) Act 2
2002 3
266 Act amended 4
This part amends the Residential Services (Accreditation) Act 5
2002. 6
267 Amendment of s 177 (Matters arising under other Acts) 7
Section 177(3), definition prescribed Act-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
prescribed Act means-- 10
(a) the Health Ombudsman Act 2013; or 11
(b) the Powers of Attorney Act 1998; or 12
(c) the Public Guardian Act 2014; or 13
(d) the Public Trustee Act 1978; or 14
(e) the Queensland Civil and Administrative 15
Tribunal Act 2009. 16
Part 17 Amendment of Right to 17
Information Act 2009 18
268 Act amended 19
This part amends the Right to Information Act 2009. 20
Page 153
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 18 Amendment of Youth Justice Act 1992
[s 269]
269 Amendment of sch 2 (Entities to which this Act does not 1
apply) 2
Schedule 2, part 2, item 10-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
10 the public guardian under the Public Guardian 5
Act 2014 in relation to an investigation or audit 6
under that Act 7
Part 18 Amendment of Youth Justice 8
Act 1992 9
270 Act amended 10
This part amends the Youth Justice Act 1992. 11
271 Amendment of s 272 (Ordinary visitor) 12
Section 272(1), `community visitor'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
community visitor (child) or child advocacy officer 15
272 Amendment of s 277 (Complaints generally) 16
(1) Section 277(2), `community visitor'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
community visitor (child), child advocacy officer 19
(2) Section 277(3) and (6), `community visitor'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
community visitor (child) or child advocacy officer 22
Page 154
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 18 Amendment of Youth Justice Act 1992
[s 273]
273 Amendment of s 282J (Complaints generally) 1
(1) Section 282J(2), `community visitor'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
community visitor (child), child advocacy officer 4
(2) Section 282J(3) and (6), `community visitor'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
community visitor (child) or child advocacy officer 7
274 Amendment of s 307 (Evidence) 8
Section 307(2), `community visitor'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
community visitor (child), child advocacy officer 11
275 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) 12
(1) Schedule 4, definition community visitor-- 13
omit. 14
(2) Schedule 4-- 15
insert-- 16
child advocacy officer means a person appointed 17
as a child advocacy officer under the Public 18
Guardian Act 2014. 19
community visitor (child) means a person 20
appointed as a community visitor (child) under 21
the Public Guardian Act 2014. 22
Page 155
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Dictionary 1
section 3 2
administrator means an administrator appointed under the 3
Guardianship Act. 4
adult, for chapter 3, see section 17. 5
adult guardian functions see section 12. 6
advance health directive means an advance health directive 7
under the Powers of Attorney Act. 8
authorised function see section 104(1). 9
authorised mental health service, for chapter 4, see section 10
51. 11
boot camp centre, for chapter 4, see section 51. 12
carer-- 13
(a) in relation to a child staying at a visitable home, means a 14
person in whose care the child has been placed; or 15
(b) in relation to a stand-alone service, means a person-- 16
(i) who is engaged to provide education and care of a 17
child in the course of a stand-alone service; or 18
(ii) who is conducting the stand-alone service and 19
providing education and care of children in the 20
course of the service. 21
chief executive (child safety) means the chief executive of the 22
child safety department. 23
chief executive (corrective services) means the chief 24
executive of the corrective services department. 25
chief executive (disability services) means the chief executive 26
of the disability services department. 27
chief executive (education) means the chief executive of the 28
education department. 29
Page 156
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Schedule 1
chief executive (health) means the chief executive of the 1
health department. 2
chief executive (housing) means the chief executive of the 3
housing department. 4
chief executive (youth justice services) means the chief 5
executive of the youth justice department. 6
child accommodation service, for chapter 4, see section 51. 7
child advocacy officer means a person appointed as a child 8
advocacy officer under section 107. 9
child advocate functions see section 13. 10
Child Protection Act means the Child Protection Act 1999. 11
child protection matter means a matter in relation to a 12
reviewable child protection decision. 13
child safety department means the department mainly 14
responsible for child protection services. 15
child under care, for chapter 4, see section 51. 16
community services department means the department 17
mainly responsible for community services. 18
community visitor means a person appointed under section 19
107 as-- 20
(a) a community visitor (adult); or 21
(b) a community visitor (child); or 22
(c) a community visitor (adult) and a community visitor 23
(child). 24
complaint, for chapter 3, part 6, see section 39. 25
confidential information includes information about a 26
person's affairs but does not include-- 27
(a) information already publicly disclosed unless further 28
disclosure of the information is prohibited by law; or 29
(b) statistical or other information that could not reasonably 30
be expected to result in the identification of the person 31
to whom the information relates. 32
Page 157
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Schedule 1
consumer, for chapter 3, part 6, see section 39. 1
corrective services department means the department mainly 2
responsible for corrective services. 3
corrective services facility, for chapter 4, see section 51. 4
criminal history, of a person, means-- 5
(a) the person's criminal record within the meaning of the 6
Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986; 7
and 8
(b) despite the Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) 9
Act 1986, section 6, any conviction of the person to 10
which that section applies; and 11
(c) charges made against the person for an offence 12
committed in Queensland or elsewhere and results of 13
those charges; and 14
(d) a finding of guilt against the person, or the acceptance of 15
a plea of guilty by the person, by a court. 16
detention centre, for chapter 4, see section 51. 17
disability services department means the department mainly 18
responsible for disabilities services. 19
education department means the department mainly 20
responsible for education. 21
enduring document means an enduring power of attorney or 22
an advance health directive. 23
enduring power of attorney means an enduring power of 24
attorney under the Powers of Attorney Act. 25
external contractor see section 104(1). 26
financial matter see the Guardianship Act, schedule 2, 27
section 1. 28
forensic disability service, for chapter 3, part 6, see section 29
39. 30
forensic examination, of an adult, see the Guardianship Act, 31
schedule 4. 32
Page 158
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Schedule 1
general principles see the Guardianship Act, schedule 1, part 1
1. 2
government entity means a government entity under the 3
Public Service Act 2008, section 24, and includes the police 4
service to the extent it is not a government entity under that 5
section. 6
government service provider means a government entity or a 7
local government. 8
guardian means a guardian appointed under the Guardianship 9
Act. 10
Guardianship Act means the Guardianship and 11
Administration Act 2000. 12
health care, see the Guardianship Act, schedule 2, section 5. 13
health care principle see the Guardianship Act, schedule 1, 14
section 12. 15
health department means the department mainly responsible 16
for hospitals. 17
health matter see the Powers of Attorney Act, schedule 2, 18
section 4. 19
health provider means a person who provides health care in 20
the practice of a profession or the ordinary course of business. 21
Example-- 22
dentist 23
housing department means the department mainly 24
responsible for housing services. 25
impaired capacity, for a person for a matter, see the 26
Guardianship Act, schedule 4. 27
impairment, for chapter 3, part 6, see section 39. 28
interested person, for a person, means a person who has a 29
sufficient and continuing interest in the other person. 30
normal hours means the hours between 8a.m. and 6p.m. 31
parent see section 53. 32
Page 159
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Schedule 1
personal matter, for an adult with impaired capacity for a 1
matter, see the Guardianship Act, schedule 2, section 2. 2
power of attorney, for chapter 3, see section 17. 3
Powers of Attorney Act means the Powers of Attorney Act 4
1998. 5
prescribed department, for chapter 4, see section 51. 6
prescribed entities, for chapter 4, part 4, see section 84. 7
private dwelling house, for chapter 3, part 6, see section 39. 8
private service provider means an entity, other than a 9
government service provider, that provides a service for which 10
the funding is-- 11
(a) wholly or partly provided by the State or a local 12
government; or 13
(b) wholly or partly administered by the State. 14
public advocate means the public advocate under the 15
Guardianship Act. 16
public guardian means the person appointed as the public 17
guardian under section 92. 18
public guardian's delegate for an investigation means a 19
delegate of the public guardian under section 20(1). 20
recognised entity see the Child Protection Act, schedule 3. 21
relevant child see section 52. 22
residential facility, for chapter 4, see section 51. 23
reviewable child protection decision means a reviewable 24
decision mentioned in the Child Protection Act, schedule 2 25
other than-- 26
(a) a decision about a licence under section 129 of that Act; 27
or 28
(b) a decision about a certificate of approval under section 29
136 of that Act; or 30
(c) a decision about an authority under section 137, 138, 31
140, 140AG(3) or (4) or 140AH of that Act. 32
Page 160
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Schedule 1
reviewable decision, for chapter 6, part 1, see section 126. 1
service provider means a government service provider or 2
private service provider. 3
special health care see the Guardianship Act, schedule 2, 4
section 7. 5
special health matter see the Powers of Attorney Act, 6
schedule 2, section 6. 7
staff member, of a visitable site, means-- 8
(a) a person in charge of the site; or 9
(b) another person who is concerned with, or takes part in, 10
the management of the site; or 11
(c) another person who is employed, or providing services, 12
at the site. 13
stand-alone service see the Education and Care Services Act 14
2013, section 9. 15
statutory health attorney see the Powers of Attorney Act, 16
section 63. 17
tribunal means QCAT. 18
tribunal registry means the registry established under the 19
QCAT Act, section 207. 20
visitable home, for chapter 4, see section 51. 21
visitable location, for chapter 4, see section 51. 22
visitable site-- 23
(a) in relation to an adult with impaired capacity for a 24
matter--see section 39; or 25
(b) in relation to a child--see section 51. 26
visitable site document-- 27
(a) for chapter 3, part 6, see section 39; or 28
(b) for chapter 4, see section 51. 29
Page 161
Public Guardian Bill 2014
Schedule 1
youth justice department means the department mainly 1
responsible for youth justice. 2
© State of Queensland 2014
Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel
Page 162
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