BI v Chief Executive Officer, Public Safety Business Agency

The case of BI v Chief Executive Officer, Public Safety Business Agency, involved the applicant, BI, who sought a blue card to work with children. The Public Safety Business Agency declined to issue a positive notice, instead issuing a negative notice due to BI's past criminal history. BI sought judicial review of this decision, arguing that the case was exceptional enough to warrant a positive notice despite the past criminal activity. The court had to determine whether the past criminal activity constituted a serious offence and whether the case was exceptional enough to warrant a positive notice.

The legal issues before the court included the interpretation of the Working with Children Act 2009 and the relevant regulations. Specifically, the court had to determine whether BI's past criminal history, which did not involve children, constituted a serious offence. If it did not, the court then had to consider whether the case was exceptional enough to warrant a positive notice. This involved balancing the need to protect children with the rights of the individual to work with children.

The court found that BI's past criminal history did not constitute a serious offence under the Act. However, the court also found that the case was not exceptional enough to warrant a positive notice. The court considered the nature of the offences, the time that had elapsed since the offences were committed, and BI's subsequent good character and conduct. The court concluded that the risk to children was too great to warrant a positive notice. The application for judicial review was therefore dismissed, and the decision of the Public Safety Business Agency to issue a negative notice was confirmed.

The Tribunal also made an order prohibiting the publication of any information which identifies or could lead to the identification of a child, pursuant to section 66 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009. This was to protect the identity of any children involved in the case, and to prevent any potential harm that may come from the publication of such information.