Our service areas

The Corporate Services division supports departmental operations and provides expert advice. The division includes:

• Financial Services
• Information Technology Services
• Infrastructure Services
• People, Capability and Culture
• Investing and Commissioning.

Investing and Commissioning

Legal Assistance Strategy and Funding

Legal Assistance Strategy and Funding (LASF) administers Queensland and Australian government funding to vital legal assistance services to ensure vulnerable and disadvantaged Queenslanders have equitable access to legal assistance.

Find out more about Legal Assistance Strategy and Funding.

Community Benefits Funds Unit

The Community Benefits Funds Unit oversees the Gambling Community Benefit Fund (GCBF), Queensland’s largest one-off community grants program.

Find out more about the Gambling Community Benefit Fund.

The Courts and Tribunals division includes:

• Coroners Court of Queensland
• Magistrates Courts Service
• Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal
• Reform and Support Services
• Supreme, District and Land Courts Service.

Courts in Queensland are impartial. This means they can settle disputes, deal with people who break the law, and determine the legal rights and obligations of individuals, business and government. While we cannot influence decisions made by a judge or magistrate, we provide administrative support to Queensland courts, as well as:

• support for victims of crime
• access to court diversion programs
• administrative assistance and services to assist residential tenants
• access to other government services.

For more information visit the Queensland Courts website, including accessing Queensland Courts publications.

Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) is an independent, fair and efficient tribunal for all Queenslanders.

QCAT resolves disputes and makes and reviews decisions about matters including guardianship, residential and retail tenancy disputes, debt, consumer issues, trader disputes, building and minor civil disputes, matters affecting children and young people, discrimination and occupational and business regulation.

For more information visit the QCAT website.

The Crown Law division includes:

• Commercial, Property, Insurance and Risk
• Constitutional and Advocacy
• Native Title, Resources and Dispute Resolution
• Practice Management
• Public Law.

Crown Law’s extensive pool of experienced lawyers advise and represent the Queensland Government in all areas of law affecting the public sector and the State of Queensland. Crown Law operates as a self-funded business unit of our department, providing legal services to the Queensland Government only.

Crown Law provides advice and legal representation in all areas of law affecting the public sector and the State of Queensland, and its core expertise spans 20 major areas of law, with a host of specialty areas also offered to clients.

For more information visit the Crown Law website.

The Harm Prevention and Regulation (HPR) division includes:

• Office of the Deputy-Director-General HPR, Commissioner for Liquor and Gaming, and Commissioner for Fair Trading
• Queensland Worker Screening Services
• Office of Fair Trading
• Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation
• Reform and Performance.

Deputy Director-General, Harm Prevention and Regulation (HPR)
Commissioner for Liquor and Gaming
Commissioner for Fair Trading

Allannah Traill is the acting Deputy Director-General HPR.

The Deputy Director-General is responsible for the regulatory policy and strategic direction of product safety, licencing, blue card checks, compliance and enforcement activities to protect market integrity and keep Queenslanders and their children safe.

This includes worker screening protections for children and people with disability, and the efficient, effective and economic administration of liquor, gaming and fair trading services. These agencies keep the community safe by safeguarding vulnerable Queenslanders, protecting consumers and business from unfair or unscrupulous business practices and unsafe products, maintaining the integrity and probity of the gambling industry, and reducing the risk of harm from liquor and gambling.

Queensland Worker Screening Services

Queensland Worker Screening Services (QWSS) comprises Blue Card Services and Disability Worker Screening.

Blue Card Services

Blue Card Services (BCS) screens and monitors people who work with children and young people in Queensland. BCS also:

• educates the community about who needs a blue card and how to meet legislative requirements and obligations
• supports organisations to understand and meet their employer obligations
• ensures compliance with the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000.

Find out more about Blue Card Services.

Disability Worker Screening

Disability Worker Screening (DWS) manages the application process for workers and volunteers seeking a clearance to deliver disability supports and services in Queensland. DWS assesses applications to determine whether a person is cleared or excluded from working in certain roles with people with disability.

The primary consideration in screening decisions is the right of people with disability to live their lives free from abuse, violence, neglect or exploitation. DWS plays an important role in creating safe environments and improving the quality of services and supports being delivered to people with disability.

DWS also supports NDIS organisations with their compliance and applicant requirements under the Disability Services Act 2006.

Find out more about Disability Worker Screening.

Office of Fair Trading

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) aims to deliver a fair and safe marketplace for Queensland consumers and businesses. This means that OFT:

• provides information and advice about rights and responsibilities
• helps resolve marketplace disputes
• licenses a range of occupations
• investigates unfair business practices
• prosecutes unscrupulous businesses
• provides information about product safety.

Find out more about the Office of Fair Trading.

Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation

The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) regulates the liquor and gambling industries across Queensland in a way that minimises harm and ensures that—on balance—Queensland and the community benefit from gambling.

Find out more about the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation.

Reform and Performance

Reform and Performance provides specialist corporate capability to enable, support and assure contemporary, outcomes-driven regulation and community education across the Harm Prevention and Regulation division.

The Justice Policy and Reform division includes:

• First Nations Justice Office
• Justice Reform Office
• Regulatory Policy
• Secretariats Support
• Special Projects and Statutory Reviews
• Strategic Policy and Legislation.

First Nations Justice Office

The First Nations Justice Office was set up in 2023 to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the justice system.

Find out more about the First Nations Justice Office.

Justice Reform Office

The Justice Reform Office (JRO) works closely with other criminal justice agencies to lead reform across the criminal justice system.

Find out more about the Justice Reform Office.

Regulatory Policy

The Regulatory Policy branch provides:

• policy and legislative development for the regulation of liquor, gaming and fair trading
• harm-minimisation programs for the liquor and gambling industries
• related statistical collections and research in support of liquor and gaming regulatory policy development.

Secretariats Support

The Secretariats Support branch includes:

• Queensland Law Reform Commission
• Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council
• Public Trustee Advisory and Monitoring Board.

Special Projects and Statutory Reviews

The Special Projects and Statutory Reviews branch includes the Criminal Procedure Review Team.

Strategic Policy and Legislation

Strategic Policy and Legislation provides policy advice to the Minister, the Director-General, other state government departments and Australian Government agencies about all areas for which the minister and department are responsible. We often publish discussion papers, exposure Bills and similar documents for the purposes of community consultation.

The Portfolio Governance and Executive Services division includes:

• Ethical Standards
• Executive Services
• General Counsel
• Internal Audit
• Strategic Communication
• Strategy and Governance.

This division provides behind-the-scenes support for the department.

The Office of the Director-General is the liaison point between the department and the ministerial offices of the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Leader of the House. The Executive Services branch provides professional advice and executive support to the Director-General by undertaking and coordinating policy research and analysis.

The Internal Audit Unit and Ethical Standards Unit also monitor and make recommendations about the operational management of the department’s divisions.

The General Counsel branch provides legal services to the Minister and executive management, and leads and promotes legal services policy and practice across government. It includes:

• Legal Advice and Advocacy
• Legal Services Coordination Unit
• Right to Information and Privacy.

The Community Support division includes:

• Dispute Resolution
• Justices of the Peace
• Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management
• Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Dispute Resolution

Dispute Resolution provides independent, responsive and effective assistance to individuals and groups engaged in constructive conflict resolution. We offer training courses in mediation, facilitation and conflict resolution.

We have 4 service streams to support our strategic vision of empowering people to resolve disputes, make amends and reconnect:

• civil mediation
• adult restorative justice conferencing
• child protection conferencing
• training.

Find out more about Dispute Resolution.

Justices of the Peace

Justices of the Peace provides information about training and appointing Justices of the Peace (Qualified—JP Qual), Justices of the Peace (JP) and Commissioners for Declarations (Cdec).

We maintain the register of Justices of the Peace and Commissioners for Declarations in Queensland, and register JPs and Cdecs and monitor their conduct.

Find out more about the Justices of the Peace, including searching for your nearest JP and learning how to become a JP or Cdec.

Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management

The Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management is committed to helping body corporate members, their committees and industry groups to understand Queensland’s body corporate legislation, and to avoid and resolve disputes.

We provide:

• an information service
• a range of forms for bodies corporate and individuals to use
• a dispute resolution service (conciliation and adjudication)
• a search facility to access adjudicator’s orders affecting particular community titles schemes
• online body corporate training.

Find out more about the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management.

Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages

The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages is responsible for recording births, deaths, marriages, changes of name and adoptions in Queensland, and we issue certificates for these life events to eligible applicants. Family historians can also access historical birth, death and marriage records.

Find out more about the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, including how to register these life events, apply for a certificate or search your family history.

Our department also provides varying levels of support to the following independent justice bodies that report either to the Minister or directly to Parliament.

Reporting to the Minister

• Director of Child Protection Litigation
• Director of Forensic Science Queensland
• Director of Public Prosecutions
• Legal Aid Queensland
• Legal Services Commissioner
• The Public Advocate
• The Public Guardian
• The Public Trustee
• Queensland Family and Child Commission
• Queensland Human Rights Commission
• Queensland Law Reform Commission
• Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council
• Queensland State Archives

Reporting directly to Parliament

• Crime and Corruption Commission
• Electoral Commission of Queensland
• Office of the Information Commissioner
• Office of the Queensland Ombudsman.