More than 205,000 visits to Queensland's Daniel's Law website have been recorded since the public child sex offender register launched on 31 December 2025. In the opening 10 weeks of operation, nine reportable offenders have been identified through Tier 3 searches, including two who now face charges relating to breaching reporting obligations.
The charges represent the first enforcement action arising from Queensland's landmark legislation. Additionally, seven other individuals who were not on the register were identified, prompting fresh investigations by the Queensland Police Service. The breadth of engagement with the system far exceeded early expectations for a criminal justice tool launched less than four months ago.
Parents and guardians of children living in Queensland can apply to find out whether a person who has or may have unsupervised contact with their child is a current reportable offender under the Parents and Guardians Disclosure Scheme. In addition, 36,889 Tier 2 (locality search) applications were submitted, allowing Queensland residents to view photographs of high-risk offenders recorded as living in their local area.
The register operates on three tiers. Tier 1 is a publicly available website listing reportable offenders who have failed to comply with obligations and whose whereabouts are unknown, with the offender's full name, photograph and year of birth accessible by members of the public. Tier 2 provides an online application for residents to view photographs of reportable offenders living in their local area. The scheme includes three new offences to prevent the misuse of information or acts of vigilantism.
The early charging outcomes underscore a fundamental tension at the heart of public offender registers. Proponents argue they empower parents with information needed to protect their children. Premier David Crisafulli stated that "these results are already proving having this knowledge gives parents and police the power to act". Yet civil liberties groups and the Queensland Human Rights Commission argue that naming offenders publicly could harm privacy and reputation, and in many cases indirectly expose victims, with Queensland's legislation attempting to reduce this risk by giving police discretion to withhold identifying information if it endangers victims.
Research on the effectiveness of such registers remains contested. The Queensland Law Society submission on the Bill noted that research "indicates registers of this kind have not been found to enhance community safety, and may instead contribute to stigma, acts of vigilantism, misinformation and reduced rehabilitation outcomes". However, the identification of non-registered individuals through the system suggests the register may serve a secondary function: helping police locate unknown offenders through public tip-offs.
The landmark register honours the legacy of Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, whose abduction and murder in 2003 inspired two decades of advocacy for stronger child protection laws. The Community Protection and Public Sex Offender Register was created by the Community Protection and Public Child Sex Offender Register (Daniel's Law) Act 2025. For more information about the register and how to access it, visit Daniel's Law or Queensland Police Service Daniel's Law page.