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• The governing body of a non-State school
• Directors
• Governing body update program

Directors of a governing body of a non-State school

For the following examples of corporations, a director means if the governing body is:

• a company under the Corporations Act 2001 (C’th) — a person appointed as a director of the company under the company’s constitution
• an incorporated association under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 — the association’s secretary elected or appointed under section 65 of that Act, and the association’s president, treasurer and all other members of the association’s management committee established under section 61 of that Act and the association’s rules registered under section 46 of that Act
• a board of trustees under the Grammar Schools Act 2016 — a person appointed as a member of the board of trustees under section 14 of that Act

While the Board is not required to grant approval for persons to be elected or appointed as directors, it expects that directors’ appointments will comply with all legislative and other criteria relevant to each particular governing body.

Blue cards and exemption cards

Under the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Act 2017, each director of a non-State school's governing body must have:

1. a current positive notice (blue card), or
2. if the director is a registered teacher or police officer — a current positive exemption notice (exemption card)

Upon a successful application under the Working with Children (Risk Management and Screening) Act 2000 to Blue Card Services, a blue card or, for a registered teacher or a police officer, an exemption card will be issued.

A registered teacher means a person who holds full registration or provisional registration under the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 and whose full or provisional registration is not suspended under section 48 or 49 of that Act. It does not include a person who has permission to teach under section 10 of that Act.

A police officer means a person declared under section 2.2(2) of the Police Service Administration Act 1990 to be a police officer.

If a director of a school’s governing body does not have a blue card or an exemption card, the Board has no option, it must decide that the governing body is not suitable to be the school’s governing body.

A governing body director who holds a valid blue card can continue as a director after the expiry date of his or her blue card, provided the card was not suspended or cancelled, and he or she has lodged a renewal application at least 30 days prior to the expiry of the card. In these circumstances, the existing blue card is deemed to remain current from the day it would otherwise end until the renewal application is decided or withdrawn.

An exemption card has no set expiry date and remains valid while a person is a police officer or registered teacher, unless it is cancelled or suspended earlier by Blue Card Services.

Blue Card Services has developed an information sheet for directors of non-State school governing bodies.

This information sheet, and other information regarding blue cards and exemption cards, is available on the Blue Card Services website. Alternatively, telephone (07) 3211 6999 or (free call) 1800 113 611.

When contacting Blue Card Services it is important to mention that the blue card is required for the purposes of being a director of a governing body of a non-State school.

Changes due to new legislation

From 1 January 2018, when a new director is appointed the governing body must submit details of the new director to the Board within 28 days of appointment. Details include:

• the name of the new director
• the date on which the person was appointed as a director
• a copy of the current positive notice (blue card) or current positive exemption notice

Furthermore, the governing body must, within 28 days after a person ceases to be a director, submit details including:

• the name of the person
• the date the person ceased to be a director

Last updated 6 December, 2018

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