Under proposed amendments to the Corrective Services Act 2006 (Qld) announced by the Hon Jack Dempsey MP, Minister for Police, a loophole regarding convicted criminals changing their names will no longer be available in Queensland.
Laws currently exist which require prisoners and certain convicted offenders to obtain permission to change their name from either the chief executive of Corrective Services or the police commissioner, depending on the situation. The Courier-Mail recently reported that there is presently no law preventing such persons from “acquiring a new identity” as there is no obligation on the registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) to inform the police of any changes in name for such persons.
The Courier-Mail reported further that:
36 convicted offenders, including several murderers, rapists, fraudsters and a child abuser on parole or probation, had successfully applied to the Community Safety Department to change their names through the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) since 2008, but police were not notified.
Mr Dempsey has indicated that he intends to “close the loophole and ensure police were informed of any name changes”. He also stated that he has requested his department “to make changes to the Corrective Services Act to stop any prisoner in custody, on probation or parole changing their name”.
