To mark the upcoming fifth anniversary of the Queensland Intermediary Scheme (QIS), Chief Judge Devereaux SC and the QIS Program Team will deliver a practitioner information session on 10 February in Brisbane.
The one-hour session will provide an update on QIS operations, including some data highlights and practical information about assessments and reports.
Intermediaries will explain how assessments are coordinated, what happens at an assessment, and how communication needs and adjustments are tested. The preparation of reports will also be discussed, including quality assurance processes.
Participants will have an opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions relating to the QIS. To provide questions on notice to the Program Team, email intermediaryscheme@justice.qld.gov.au.
Registrations are essential to attend in-person or online.
The QIS commenced as a pilot program on 5 July 2021 in response to recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Criminal Justice Report (2017). It operates in both Brisbane and Cairns.
The QIS supports children under 16 years and adults with an impairment of the mind or communication difficulty who are the complainants of, or witnesses to, child sexual offences to provide their best evidence.
Intermediaries assess the complainant/witness and make recommendations to police, the parties and the courts about how to best communicate with them. The QIS is facilitated by provisions in the Evidence Act 1977, Evidence Regulation 2017 and District Court Practice Direction 7 of 2021. For more information about QIS, visit the Courts website.
It is anticipated that a separate information session will be hosted in Cairns in March 2026. Further information about this session will be communicated closer to the date.
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