The LNP has promised to create a public child sex offender register is elected in October. It would allow parents and guardians to access photos, names and locations of convicted paedophiles. But some experts are concerned the proposal could have harmful consequences.
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00:00After more than 20 years, Daniel Morecambe's legacy lives on.
00:07This law will be in honour of an innocent young boy from the Sunshine Coast and it will
00:13be known as Daniel's Law.
00:15The state opposition has announced if elected in October, it will implement a public child
00:20sex offender registry.
00:22If this register can even protect one child from being put in harm's way and having their
00:28life shattered, it will be worth the register.
00:31The three-tiered system would closely mirror models from Western and South Australia.
00:36The first tier would include a website of offenders who've breached their reporting
00:40obligations.
00:41The second tier would allow residents to make an application to identify high-risk offenders
00:46in their local area.
00:48And under the final tier, parents and guardians could enquire about adults who have unsupervised
00:53contact with their children.
00:55Today we tip the balance of power back in favour of the victim.
00:59It's a proposal Bruce and Denise Morecambe have lobbied for since a convicted sex offender
01:03was found guilty of their son's murder.
01:06We'll never know whether the deterrent factor of a public accessible sex offender register
01:12would have made a difference in Cowan's case, but we hope going forward it will.
01:16Our motto is to keep kids safe and the victims have the right to be safe.
01:22If there are elements of it that are sensible and that can keep Queensland kids safer, then
01:27we'll consider those.
01:28The proposed law would cost taxpayers around $10 million, with the opposition leader vowing
01:34if he's elected Premier, he'll ensure that safeguards are put in place to prevent the
01:38misuse of information.
01:40But experts have warned that a registry could do more harm than good.
01:45There are people who are on the public offender register who shouldn't be.
01:49And far more concerning I think for me is that there are people who should be on it
01:53that are not.