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.

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 division includes:

• Blue Card Services
• Office of Fair Trading
• Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation
• Regulatory Support Services.

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 the blue card system, legislative requirements and associated obligations
• trains and assists organisations with developing and implementing child and youth risk-management strategies
• ensures regulated organisations comply with the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000.

Find out more about Blue Card Services, including who needs a blue card when working with children.

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.

Regulatory Support Services

Regulatory Support Services (RSS) 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 (FNJO) was established as a result of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce recommendations to develop and implement a co-designed community and whole-of-government strategy 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
• First Nations Advisory Unit
• 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
• Right to Information and Privacy.

The Women’s Safety, and Victims and Community Support division includes:

• Community Justice Services
• Investment and Commissioning
• Victim Assist Queensland
• Women’s Safety and Violence Prevention.

Community Justice Services

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.

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.

Sector Investment and Budget Operations

Information will be added about this team’s functions in the near future.

Victim Assist Queensland

Victim Assist Queensland (VAQ) works under the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009. VAQ helps victims of violent crime—including all forms of domestic and family violence (DFV)—to recover from their injuries.

VAQ:

• provides financial assistance to eligible victims
• supports the victim services sector through information, coordination, research, education and funding
• assists government and non-government agencies to comply with the Charter of Victims' Rights and manage complaints made in relation to the Charter.

Women's Safety and Violence Prevention

Women’s Safety and Violence Prevention supports women and girls to participate fully in the social, economic and cultural opportunities that Queensland offers and to achieve their full potential.

We deliver services and supports that victims and their children need to be free of violence and that ensure perpetrators are held to account for their actions and given opportunity to change their behaviour.

We drive reform to strengthen community and whole-of-government responses to gendered violence by changing community attitudes and behaviours, integrating service responses and strengthening justice system responses.

Find out more about Women's Safety and Violence Prevention.

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 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.

Reporting directly to Parliament

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