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Estimates: Blue Card decision makers

During Estimates hearings on Friday 26 July 2024, I asked the Director General of the Department of Justice and Attorney General about the decision makers at Blue Card Services. 

You can read my question and her full response below, or in the official Parliamentary record of proceedings (Hansard) here

Mr BERKMAN: I have just a couple of very quick questions to the director-general to start with around working-with-children checks. In terms of the departmental staff who are actually making those final approval or refusal decisions on blue card applications, are there minimum qualifications required for those staff? 

Ms Joldic: I thank the member for the question. I will get back to you in terms of the minimum requirement in a moment. All of our staff who work particularly in frontline-facing roles are required to undertake training, so they are trained on the job. They are trained in our code of conduct and in all of the Public Service mandatory training, so as a minimum they all undergo training on the job. 

Mr BERKMAN: Okay, but what I was trying to get at with the question is any minimum qualifications before on-the-job training, but I understand you are looking at that. 

Ms Joldic: Yes, I am just trying to get the information. 

Mr BERKMAN: The other thing I was interested in is whether you collect data on what proportion of those staff identify as First Nations, disabled or from a culturally and linguistically diverse background respectively?

Ms Joldic: I thank the member for the question. We do collect the data at a departmental level. It is not mandatory to acknowledge whether you are First Nations or a culturally and linguistically diverse person, but we do encourage staff to identify because it allows us to ensure we have the right environment and right training for staff and supports for those staff. 

Mr BERKMAN: Is that data that you can provide in respect of the blue card working-with-children staff specifically? 

Ms Joldic: I will have to check whether we would break that down specifically by unit, but that unit would be large enough to be able to give you non-identifiable data.

[the Director General later returned to the question]

Ms Joldic: On minimum qualifications, our decision-makers must have a law degree or a related degree. A related degree can be a social work degree. We have currently at least two identified positions. Our First Nations staff are blue card liaison officers in Palm Island and Yarrabah. If you will indulge me, I take this opportunity to really thank our hardworking staff in the blue card team. They have done a magnificent job over the past 12 months in processing just under 300 blue card applications and regulate over 900,000 current blue card holders. I really want to place on record my thanks to the magnificent staff in the blue cards team.

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