Align Queensland Blue Card Requirements With Actual Occupation Risk

Horticulturalists Are Not Child‑Related Workers

I am a horticulturalist whose Blue Card was assessed as if my role involved child‑related work. It does not. My workplace is a WHS‑regulated exclusion zone where no person — including children — may enter while work is being performed.

Horticulture is a high‑risk occupation governed by machinery, chemicals, biological hazards, and strict exclusion zones. It is not a child‑related environment.

Despite this, my Blue Card was refused based on assumptions about “school grounds,” outdated processes, and a past traumatic event that has been misinterpreted without context, without interview, and without any face-to-face human assessment.

I am calling for Blue Card Services to assess clearances based on actual occupation, actual risk, and actual permitted interactions — not assumptions.

Why I am starting this petition
Blue Card Services currently applies a blanket rule to horticulturalists simply because our work may occur in or near schools or in public spaces.

But proximity is not interaction, and location is not a duty.

My role does not involve direct or indirect contact with children
Under Queensland WHS legislation, horticulture is a controlled worksite involving:

• machinery
• chemicals
• toxic plants
• biological hazards
• exclusion zones
• restricted access

These exclusion zones legally prevent any person — including children, parents, visitors, NDIS participants, aged persons, and even teaching staff — from entering the work area.

Only trained horticultural colleagues may enter.

Children are treated as hazards, not participants.

Council workers treat the public — adults, children, animals, cyclists, joggers — as hazards too.

Hazard management is not child‑related work.

Horticulturalists do not supervise, educate, support, or interact with children.

We cannot legally perform child‑related duties.

We do not meet the definition of regulated employment under the Act.

School grounds are not “child‑related work” for horticulturalists
Schools are regulated environments, but horticultural work within them is not regulated employment. We:

• operate under WHS exclusion zones
• treat children as hazards
• have no authority to interact with students
• must report incidents, not resolve them
• cannot supervise, redirect, or engage children
• The environment may be regulated — but the role is not.

The Blue Card system has no human interface
A major flaw in the current Blue Card framework is the complete absence of any human assessment.

Applicants are not interviewed, not vetted, not assessed in person, and not given any opportunity to clarify context or correct misunderstandings.

Reviewers rely solely on static data — often incomplete, biased, skewed, inaccurate, or based on hearsay — without ever speaking to the applicant.

Even a driver’s licence requires:

• mandatory physical attendance
• identity verification
• a knowledge test
• a practical test
• a photo
• medical evidence
• proof of competence

Blue Cards require none of these — yet claim to be a “licensing” system for child safety.

This outdated process allows:

• trauma responses
• biased police reports
• untested allegations
• historical hardship
• contextual misunderstandings

to be treated as definitive evidence.

A modern child‑safety licensing system must include interviews, context verification, trauma‑informed assessment, training modules, competency testing, and human oversight.

My past trauma was misinterpreted as child‑related risk

Over two years ago, during a period of extreme family hardship, I experienced a traumatic incident on the day my husband of 16 years died suddenly — only eight months after the death of our 6‑year‑old. My teenage children and one 11‑year‑old were present during a moment of grief, not misconduct. They were not harmed, not targeted, and not the subject of my distress.

Blue Card Services interpreted this trauma as child‑related risk — without interview, without context, and without any opportunity for me to be heard.

I later experienced a mental health crisis due to compounded grief, homelessness, hopelessness, and lack of support. This was not a crime. It was a moment of deep distress. I was provided assistance, sought help, recovered, and rebuilt my life.

Mental health recovery should be recognised — not punished.

 
The consequences have been devastating
Not having a Blue Card has cut me off from:

• disaster relief volunteering
• homeless support
• aged care
• NDIS work
• church groups
• community organisations
• youth‑involved activities
• my future career in community services.  I am studying a Diploma in Community Services, yet I may complete my qualification with nowhere to accept me — not because I am unsafe, but because the system is outdated.

I regularly attend shopping centres, libraries, beaches, markets, church, and social venues. My children are all teenagers and stay with me often, bringing their friends, to go fishing, learn to drive, or spend time together. These everyday interactions are no different from being near children on school grounds — yet in one context I am considered safe, and in the other I am treated as a risk.

I have been judged without a jury, without a crime, and without consideration of the true nature of my work or my recovery.

Licences and clearances must match the role

A C‑class drivers' licence does not allow someone to drive a heavy rigid truck. 

A doctorate does not make someone a medical doctor.

Licences & Clearances must match the specific role.

Blue Cards should work the same way.

A Blue Card should:

• clarify the parameters of child‑related work
• specify the role in which a person is authorised
• distinguish between occupations
• recognise WHS exclusion zones
• assess actual interaction risk

Horticulturalists should not be incorrectly classified as child‑related workers.

 
🌱 What I am asking for

I am calling on Blue Card Services and the Queensland Government to:

Assess Blue Card eligibility based on occupation‑specific risk, not location.
Recognise WHS exclusion zones as non child‑related environments.
Ensure mental health crises are not treated as permanent disqualifiers.
Clarify Blue Card categories to reflect actual permitted interactions.
Ensure horticulturalists are not incorrectly classified as child‑related workers.
Modernise the system with training modules, interviews, and human assessment.
This change will ensure fairness, accuracy, and proper alignment between workplace safety laws and child‑related work laws.

 
🙌 CALL TO ACTION
Please sign this petition to support a fair, accurate, and occupation‑specific approach to Blue Card assessments. Horticulturalists deserve to be evaluated based on the real nature of their work — and people who have recovered from mental health crises deserve dignity, not discrimination.

Together, we can help create a clearer, safer, and more consistent system for everyone.