National Register for Child Sex Offenders step in right direction

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Larry Anthony, today congratulated the Commonwealth, State and Territory Police Ministers for their agreement to develop a nationally consistent approach to the registration of child sex offenders.

“Child sex offenders do not respect state borders. Setting up a national register to monitor the movements and activities of convicted child sex offenders will greatly assist all State and Territory Police and give them nowhere to hide.

“I agree that the information on the register should not be publicly available. This type of arrangement has led to very ugly incidents in other countries and we do not want that here.

“However, we have a duty to monitor these criminals who have committed terrible offences against our children and a national register will give Police around the country the tools to do this.

“The movement of child sex offenders has been of great concern to communities right around the country. This agreement is a big step in the right direction to keep our children safe.

“I congratulate the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Chris Ellison, for his leadership on this important issue,” Mr Anthony said.