Queensland Sporting Organisations: Your Child Safety Compliance Roadmap

Queensland Sporting Organisations: Your Child Safety Compliance Roadmap

Sport plays an important role in the lives of children and young people. Every day, thousands participate in community sport through local clubs, state sporting organisations, representative pathways, swimming schools, martial arts academies and recreation programs. These environments provide opportunities for children to develop confidence, teamwork, and resilience, but they also place organisations in positions of significant responsibility.

Queensland has introduced a new child safeguarding framework (Framework) through the Child Safe Organisations Act 2024 (Qld) (Act). The legislation requires organisations that provide services, activities or spaces specifically for children to embed the 10 Child Safe Standards (Standards) into their governance and day-to-day operations.

For many sporting organisations, these obligations commenced on 1 April 2026, with additional reporting responsibilities under the Reportable Conduct Scheme (Scheme) commencing from 1 July 2026.

For sporting organisations, compliance is no longer about simply holding Blue Cards or maintaining a child safety policy. It requires a proactive, organisation-wide commitment to creating safe environments where children and young people are protected from harm, and concerns are managed appropriately.

Why Child Safety Is a Priority in Sport

Sport is built on trust. Parents trust coaches, volunteers, officials, and administrators to provide environments where children can participate safely. While most sporting organisations are committed to protecting children and young people, sport also presents unique safeguarding risks that require thoughtful management.

Children may regularly participate in and attend:

• one-on-one coaching;
• physical instruction;
• change rooms;
• interstate travel;
• overnight camps;
• online communication with coaches;
• volunteer-led programs;
• transport arrangements; and/or
• competitions away from parents or carers.

These situations are not inherently unsafe, but they create circumstances where clear safeguarding systems are essential. The Standards are designed to help organisations identify these risks before harm occurs and establish consistent practices that protect children across every aspect of the organisation.

Do Queensland Sporting Organisations Need to Comply with the Framework?

The answer for many organisations is yes.

Under the Act, the Standards apply to organisations operating within prescribed sectors that provide services, facilities or activities specifically for children. This includes many organisations across the sport and recreation sector, such as sporting clubs, associations, academies, swimming schools and recreation providers.

For the sport and recreation sector, key dates include:

• 1 October 2025 – The Act commenced.
• 1 January 2026 – Obligations commenced for some organisations providing overnight activities.
• 1 April 2026 – Obligations commenced for most sport and recreation organisations.
• 1 July 2026 – Obligations commenced for organisations which fall under the Scheme.

Organisations were expected to commence implementing the Standards from these dates.

Compliance is recognised as an ongoing process of embedding child-safe practices rather than achieving a one-off certification.

What Must Sporting Organisations Do?

The Child Safe Standards are designed to become part of an organisation’s everyday operations rather than existing as standalone policies.

Sporting organisations should be able to demonstrate that they have embedded child safety into:

• governance and leadership;
• organisational culture;
• recruitment and screening;
• volunteer management;
• codes of conduct;
• child safety policies;
• complaints and reporting processes;
• child participation;
• staff and volunteer training;
• physical and online environments;
• risk management; and
• continuous review and improvement.

Your Child Safety Compliance Roadmap

Step 1: Understand Your Obligations

Determine whether your organisation falls within the sectors covered by the Act and identify which legal obligations apply, including whether your organisation is also subject to the Scheme.

Step 2: Review Governance

Ensure the Board, Committee and Executive Leadership formally accepts responsibility for child safety, allocates appropriate resources and receives regular safeguarding reports.

Step 3: Conduct a Safeguarding Audit

Review your current governance documents, policies, procedures, recruitment practices, complaints handling processes, travel arrangements, coaching practices and safeguarding controls to identify compliance gaps.

Step 4: Review Child Safety Policies

Update policies so they reflect the Standards, including codes of conduct, responding to disclosures, online safety, photography, supervision, travel, physical contact and complaint management.

Step 5: Strengthen Recruitment Practices

Implement robust recruitment practices including referee checks, behavioural interview questions, screening, induction processes and role-specific expectations.

Step 6: Engage Children and Families

Provide children and families with accessible information about expected behaviours, complaints processes and how concerns can be raised safely.

Step 7: Deliver Ongoing Training

Ensure Board members, executives, coaches, volunteers, officials and staff receive regular safeguarding training that reflects their responsibilities.

Step 8: Complete Child Safety Risk Assessments

Assess safeguarding risks associated with competitions, training sessions, overnight camps, transport, change rooms, online communication and social media.

Step 9: Prepare for Reportable Conduct

Organisations which fall under the Scheme should establish procedures for receiving, assessing, investigating and reporting allegations of reportable conduct in accordance with Queensland’s legislative requirements.

Step 10: Continuously Monitor Compliance

Review policies regularly, monitor safeguarding incidents, seek feedback from children and families, and demonstrate continuous improvement.

What This Means for Queensland Sporting Organisations

The introduction of Queensland’s Standards represents more than a regulatory change. It reflects a broader expectation that child safety becomes an integral part of organisational culture.

For sporting organisations, this means moving beyond compliance documents to demonstrate that safeguarding is embedded in leadership, decision-making, recruitment, coaching practices, volunteer management and everyday operations.

Organisations should not assume that holding Blue Cards or having a child safety policy in isolation satisfies their legal obligations. Regulators will expect organisations to demonstrate how child safety is actively implemented, monitored and continuously improved.

How Can Safe Space Legal Help?

Navigating Queensland’s new Framework can be challenging, particularly for sporting organisations that rely on volunteers, committee members and community participation. At Safe Space Legal, we have extensive experience working with sporting organisations across Australia to strengthen their safeguarding frameworks and meet their legal obligations.

Safe Space Legal provides the following services to ensure organisations meet their legal obligations:

Drafting legally sound policies, procedures, and codes of conduct;

• Providing policy audits and developing safeguarding policies, procedures, and complaint handing processes;
• Providing root cause analysis to identify gaps in policy and/or practice which put organisations at risk of non-compliance with their sector-specific obligations;
• Conducting safeguarding investigations which are compliant with relevant state and territory legislation and regulations;
• Delivering tailored safeguarding training to ensure organisations are aware of their sector-specific requirements and obligations;
• Ensuring that complaints handling an
• reporting processes are compliant with legal obligations;
• Provide sound legal advice on risk mitigation.

Contact office@safespacelegal.com.au or call (03) 9124 7321 to organise a complementary discussion in relation to your organisation’s child safety and safeguarding needs.