Yet to-be-implemented recommendations contained in a five-year-old report can help address problems within Queensland's working-with-children system, a committee has been told.
Katter Australia Party leader Robbie Katter introduced a bill last year to reform the blue card process which is now being considered by a parliamentary committee
"The one size fits all approach to the blue card system is having a negative impact on Indigenous communities within Queensland where unemployment is chronically high and work opportunities are statistically low," the explanatory notes state.
The bill proposes a new framework giving power to Community Justice Groups to make decisions about blue card applications for workers in their areas.
Queensland's Family and Child Commission has acknowledged the state's blue card system can be a significant barrier to employment and kinship care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Commissioner Natalie Lewis told a committee hearing a 2017 QFCC report reviewing the blue card system made 81 recommendations.
"Full implementation of these recommendations would go some way to addressing the concerns raised by the bill," she said on Monday.
Among the key recommendations was to "effectively create a system of delegated authority" to exercise some of the functions of the chief executive under the Working with Children Act.
"The QFCC is also open to the possibility of expanding the scope of this recommendation to include delegating authority for assessing blue cards in certain circumstances, as foreshadowed in this bill," its November 2021 submission says.
It noted introducing delegate functions and expert panels could ensure information relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is appropriately considered in assessment processes.
Ms Lewis told the hearing the objectives of the bill have merit but individual communities should have flexibility about which decision-making body is used.
"If we're talking about commitments to self-determination, we're talking about treaty, we're talking about resetting the relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we need to trust that Aboriginal communities want the best for their children," she said.
