Negative notice holders

We may issue a negative notice because of a person’s known police or other assessable information.

You will get a negative notice if:

You are (or become) a disqualified person

a risk assessment determines you pose a risk to the safety of children.

In Queensland, a negative notice does not expire and remains current unless it is cancelled.

You cannot apply for a blue card while you have a negative notice. You may be able to apply to have the negative notice cancelled.

The blue card system places obligations on individuals and employer organisations.

Obligations as a negative notice holder

If you have a negative notice, you are a restricted person and you cannot:

start or continue in child-related work (paid or voluntary) regulated by the blue card system
carry on a child-related business regulated by the blue card system
work or volunteer in restricted employment.

If you do any of the above, you will be committing an offence and we may ask police to investigate.

Significant penalties apply, including terms of imprisonment.

Obligations as an employer organisation

Employer organisations must not:

start or continue a negative notice holder in regulated employment

engage a negative notice holder (a restricted person) in restricted employment.

If you do any of the above, you will be committing an offence and we may ask police to investigate.

Significant penalties apply, including terms of imprisonment.

Applying to cancel a negative notice

You can apply to cancel your negative notice if you are not a disqualified person and:

the sit-out period has ended

other limited circumstances apply (e.g. you were found not guilty of a charge that was pending when the decision was made)

Applying to cancel a negative notice does not mean it will be cancelled automatically. We must do a risk assessment to decide if your negative notice should be cancelled.

If your negative notice is cancelled, you will be notified, and you will no longer be a restricted person. You will be invited to apply for a blue card.

However, if your application is refused, your negative notice remains current and you remain a restricted person.

You may be able to apply for a review of the decision. Otherwise, you can apply to cancel your negative notice again after the sit-out period or in other limited circumstances.

Sit-out periods

Sit-out periods will depend on when your negative notice was issued or your application to cancel your negative was refused.

For decisions made before 20 September 2025 the sit-out period:

is 2 years

and

starts when the decision was made.

For decisions made after 20 September 2025, the sit-out period:

is 3 years

and

starts when the decision was made, or when the decision was confirmed on appeal.

Appeal a decision we have made

You can apply to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) for a review of a decision to:

issue a negative notice

refuse an application to cancel a negative notice.

You must apply to QCAT within 28 days of getting the decision.

More information

Last updated:: 20 September 2025