Blue Cards and child safety: who actually needs one

This guide is for Queensland club committees, most of whose members are adults. It is general information, not legal advice. If your club runs nothing for children, the short version above is enough.

How clubs do it

1. A club that starts a junior programme or children's coaching checks the roles against the Blue Card Services sport page, or rings 1800 113 611.
2. The club links each volunteer who needs a card through the Blue Card Services Organisation Portal before they start.
3. The volunteer applies. There is no fee for a linked volunteer.
4. The club keeps a register of its business operators, paid staff and volunteers, and a separate one for anyone relying on an exemption.
5. Nobody starts until the card is issued and linked: Blue Card Services calls this "No Card, No Link, No Start".

When a card is needed

Blue Cards come from the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000 (Qld). Blue Card Services' sport and active recreation page (updated 19 August 2026) says a card is needed to "coach children in sport", "referee children's sporting competitions" or "volunteer at junior sporting events", and by "executive members of a sport ... who operate child-related services". Its page for committee members says they "need a blue card even if they do not work directly with children" where the organisation runs child-related services.

Unpaid work counts. Section 10(2) says it does not matter "whether the work is carried out voluntarily or for financial reward", or whether it is done once or often. The Act's own example is a person who agrees by word of mouth to coach a children's team for a season.

Is the activity mainly for children?

There is no headcount test. Schedule 1, section 5 asks whether a club is "providing services directed mainly towards children" or "conducting activities mainly involving children". Blue Card Services can be asked about a particular activity; CAQ cannot decide this for a club.

The main exemptions

• Seven days a year. Under s.156(4)(a), someone who works with children for no more than 7 days in a calendar year is not in regulated employment. Blue Card Services counts every day with children at every organisation, and part of a day counts as a day. It does not cover overnight camps or excursions (s.156(5)). Blue Card Services also says it does not apply if you "run a business", and that "Most executive officers and board or committee members are business operators". Blue Card Services publishes a Restricted Employment Declaration for people relying on this rule.
• Parents. Under s.156(4)(b), a parent helping voluntarily at an activity that includes their own child is not in regulated employment. It must be the parent, not another relative. It does not cover overnight trips (s.156(5)), or close personal care such as dressing or toileting other children (s.156(6)).
• Young helpers. Under s.156(3), unpaid work by a child is generally not regulated employment. Blue Card Services' example for clubs is "a child volunteering as a referee".
• Other roles. The sport page says people who only provide food, drink or equipment, work in a canteen or bar, do maintenance or clean do not need a card.

Blue Card Services says a "restricted person" cannot use these exemptions, and that an organisation "must not employ or continue to employ a restricted person". A card lasts three years (s.238). Volunteer cards are free.

Child Safe Standards

The Child Safe Organisations Act 2024 (Qld) started on 1 October 2025. The Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) says organisations that work with children or provide services or spaces for them are required to introduce 10 Child Safe Standards.

QFCC's list of who is covered includes sporting clubs that provide "services or activities provided primarily for children". It adds: "If one part of the organisation provides a service specifically for children, the entire organisation is considered a child safe entity." So a club that runs something specifically for children, such as a junior programme, comes under the Standards. QFCC can say whether a particular club is covered.

The Reportable Conduct Scheme started on 1 July 2026. QFCC's list of who it applies to does not include sporting clubs. The nearest entry is "camps or excursions that include overnight stays for children".

Croquet Australia's coach accreditation rules are separate and are not covered here.

Where this comes from

1. Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000 (Qld): s.10 (unpaid work), s.156 (exemptions), s.238 (card lasts three years), sch.1 s.5 (mainly for children)
2. Blue Card Services: sport, active recreation, gyms and play facilities (updated 19 Aug 2026)
3. Blue Card Services: when you don't need a blue card
4. Blue Card Services: private teaching, coaching or tutoring (services only to adults)
5. Blue Card Services: executive officers and committee members
6. Blue Card Services: churches, clubs and associations
7. Blue Card Services: obligations for organisations
8. Blue Card Services: linking requirements for organisations
9. Blue Card Services: volunteers (free cards)
10. Blue Card Services: contact (1800 113 611)
11. Child Safe Organisations Act 2024 (Qld)
12. QFCC: who the Child Safe Standards apply to (updated 8 Apr 2026)
13. QFCC: who the Reportable Conduct Scheme applies to (updated 1 Jul 2026)