The proposal would provide $21.3 million in 2025-26 for a 12-month pilot of a National Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (the Scheme) to empower parents to protect their children.

The Scheme would allow members of the public to request information from the police about whether an individual who interacts with their children is a convicted sex offender.

It would be modelled on existing schemes operating right now in Western Australia and the UK, which have been running successfully for more than a decade.

The Scheme would allow law enforcement to disclose, on application, relevant information to a parent or guardian, on a case-by-case basis, once police have undertaken the necessary checks. Information would only be released to individuals where they have a genuine relationship to the child and police determine it is appropriate to do so.

The proposal would be non-ongoing and start from 1 July 2025.