The petition of the residents of the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the House the lack of any action by Queensland Ministers to protect children from 0 to 5 years of age attending Queensland Child Care Centres under the mandatory reporting legislation. Currently, all Queensland Child Care Centres/Services and their staff are not mandatory notifiers to report suspected child abuse / neglect to appropriate authorities.

Mason John Parker, a 17 month old baby was continually being tortured and subsequently murdered eight days after the Child Care Centre he attended had taken photographic evidence of severe bruising and redness from his lower back, on his buttocks to the back of his knees. This photo was used as evidence in the murder trial. Early intervention 8 days prior to his death would have saved this child. Clearly the centre's in-house policy and procedures were inadequate and did not emphasis the rights of the child.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to ensure that all Queensland Child Care Centres/Services and their staff are included as mandated notifiers in Queensland's Legislation.

This new mandatory legislation should be known as Mason's Law – honouring Mason John Parker.