Blue card support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

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When do you need a blue card

Not everyone needs a blue card to be in an environment where a child is present, but blue cards are needed for certain areas that are important in children's lives.

Common places you'll need a blue card to work or volunteer at include education and recreation providers, health or home care providers, or other community services that regularly supply services to children.

Some examples include:

• education and recreation providers, such as childcare centres, footy or sporting clubs, PCYCs or schools
• health or home care providers, such as child accommodation, foster and kinship carers, safe houses, women’s shelters, and wellbeing or health centres
• other community services that regularly host children, such as some art centres, community justice groups, churches or places of worship, local councils, men’s sheds, some ranger programs, or women’s yarning circles.

If your work doesn’t fit under the blue card system, you may not need a blue card.

Your employer should not make you get a blue card if you don’t need one. Making someone get a blue card when they don’t need one may result in:

• limiting job options for communities
• someone having to go through a blue card check when they didn't not need one
• organisations being unable to fill job vacancies or start community programs.

Read more about when you need a blue card.

Who can’t apply for a blue card

If you’ve been in trouble with the police, it doesn’t always mean you can’t get a blue card.

If you aren’t sure, you can phone and ask the blue card mob—we are here to help.

However, certain people—if they are a disqualified person or a negative notice holder—cannot apply for a blue card.

A disqualified person and a negative notice holder are both considered a restricted person.

Find out more about who can’t apply for or hold a blue card.

How to apply for a blue card

There are 2 ways you can apply for a blue card: either online or using a paper form. Applying online is quicker than using the paper form.

Before you apply, you will need a Customer Reference Number (CRN) and photo from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR))—this is not the same CRN you get from Centrelink.

If you don’t have a CRN, you can visit a TMR customer service centre to get a CRN and photo.

If you are in a remote community, you can get a CRN and photo taken at your closest Queensland Government Agency Program (QGAP) or police station. Tell them it’s for a blue card and you’ll get it for free.

If you can’t visit a local QGAP or police station, you can apply using a remote pack. We can also link you to a local community justice group, council, school or employment agency who can help you with your blue card application.

After you apply for a blue card

After you apply for a blue card, we complete a national criminal history check and get other relevant information—we call this the blue card check.

After the blue card check:

• if no police information or other concerning details are found, your application will be approved
• if we do find police information or other concerning details, we may need to contact you to find out more.

This is how we hear your side of the story—about you and the positive changes you have made—before we decide whether a card should be issued.

Responding to police or other concerning information

You can tell us your side of the story in writing, over the phone, face-to-face, or through someone you trust like a community Elder, community justice group or someone you work with.

Your story can include things like:

• whether you agree with the information about you
• a description of your personal life at the time
• any positive changes you‘ve made in your life
• courses or programs you have completed (e.g. wellbeing courses—include the organisation the course was through, dates attended and when you finished the course)
• previous experiences or interactions with children
• anything else you want us to know (e.g. references).

We may call you or send you a text message if we need to talk to you about your side of the story.

It’s important that we speak to you to get your side of the story and move your application to the decision-making stage.

Our Indigenous liaison officers provide advice through the assessment process to provide cultural context about an applicant’s information, circumstances and criminal behaviour. This includes consideration of:

• any cultural factors that exist and the impact these may have had on the applicant to provide context around their criminal behaviour (e.g. trauma—both intergenerational and domestic and family violence (DFV)—violence resistance and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system)
• cultural protective factors (e.g. strong connection/reconnection to culture and community, cultural and community leadership, and ongoing support networks such as involvement in men’s or women’s groups, church and family support)
• other cultural reasons that may have influenced offending behaviour (e.g. victim of DFV, violent resistance, grief and loss, mental health and substance misuse).

If you decide not to tell your side of the story, we can only decide based on the information we already have. If you need help with this process, give the blue card mob a call and we can help you.

For more information read the How to make a submission fact sheet.

More information

• Find blue card resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
• Find out about the Safe children and strong communities strategy and action plan.

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