Building safe, caring and connected communities

Our focus

Queenslanders seek a united, harmonious and inclusive community that is free from discrimination, violence, poverty and prejudice. The Queensland Government is working side by side with community groups to address the diverse needs of Queenslanders.

Our government will take the lead in addressing domestic violence and identify how improved support can help families and individuals. We will also work to provide laws that balance the protection of Queenslanders from organised criminal activity with the rights and freedoms of law-abiding citizens.

We believe a society’s quality can be measured by how it treats its most vulnerable people. Our government will encourage strong and cohesive communities and support those Queenslanders who may need help to achieve their potential. We will actively assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people with a disability and people from different cultural backgrounds to participate in the social, economic and cultural fabric of our community.

We need to build capacity and strength in our families and communities across Queensland, through high quality universal education, health and social services. Our policies must not only address inequality but also be vehicles for individual and community empowerment.

The Queensland Government will work to ensure older Queenslanders are able to lead healthy and productive lives, whether in work, volunteering or retirement. We will work to ensure access to a range lifestyle opportunities as well as care and support appropriate to their needs.

As the most decentralised state in Australia, we recognise both the strength of our regional cities and towns, and the challenges they face. Our government is committed to tackling infrastructure constraints and delivering projects that will be catalysts for economic growth and jobs.

We will achieve our vision for liveable communities by:

• Ensuring an accessible and effective justice system
• Providing an integrated and reliable transport network
• Encouraging safer and inclusive communities
• Building our regions

Key initiatives

• Examining recommendations from the Not now, not ever: Putting an end to domestic and family violence in Queensland
• Toughening laws to deliver harsher penalties for the perpetrators of domestic violence
• Conducting a Commission of Inquiry into organised crime in Queensland
• Participating in the National Disability Insurance Scheme
• Enabling Disability Services Queensland to continue to provide high quality accommodation support and respite services
• Convening the Safer Roads, Safer Queensland Forum to discuss ways to reduce the road death toll
• Introducing a Multicultural Queensland Charter and establishing a Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council
• Creating a one-stop-shop for older Queenslanders to access information about services essential for seniors
• Introducing the Know Your Community program to provide statistical data for Queensland’s Indigenous communities
• Expanding the Building Our Regions infrastructure fund
• Hosting the Regional Queensland showcase

Target alignment

The following table highlights how our focus on building safe, caring and connected communities will contribute to achieving targets outlined in The Queensland Plan.