Blue cards for legal professionals
You need a blue card if your usual job is to provide legal support to children.
Legal support is a service under the health, counselling and support services category.
A support service is defined and includes:
- legal support
- emotional support
- mentoring
- pastoral care.
These rules apply to paid workers, volunteers and businesses that provide these services to children in certain circumstances.
Important for legal professionals
The rules around blue cards for individuals providing legal support services have changed. Changes introduced on 20 September 2025, removed the previous exemption available to lawyers and legal support staff when working with children.
Legal support services
- For anyone who commenced a business providing child-related legal support services or who became employed in a role providing child-related legal support services after 20 September 2025, you must already hold a blue card. If not, you could be committing an offence.
- For those who were already operating a business or were already employed prior to 20 September 2025, you have until 20 September 2026 to apply for your blue card.
Transition period ending soon
Those individuals who previously relied on the ‘lawyer’ exemption were given a 12-month period to transition and apply for a blue card. That period ends very soon on 20 September 2026.
What this means
If you work for or operate a business that provides child-related legal support services to children, you must:
- already hold a blue card (see point 1 above); or
- ave applied for a blue card (see point 2 above).
Workers and volunteers
You need a blue card if your usual duties are giving legal support or advocacy to children.
This includes support provided:
- when you are alone with a child
- online
- over the phone
- as part of court or other legal proceedings.
Examples
You need a blue card if you are:
- a lawyer giving legal advice to a child
- a legal professional meeting alone with a child about a legal matter
- a legal professional giving legal support to a child online
- a legal professional giving legal support to a child over the phone
- a lawyer supporting a child victim or witness in legal proceedings
- a lawyer volunteering to provide legal support to children
- a legal professional providing advocacy for children
- a legal professional providing mentoring, emotional support or pastoral care as part of a legal support service.
You do not need a blue card if you are:
- a receptionist who greets children at a law office
- an administration worker who only has incidental contact with children
- a lawyer whose work does not involve providing services to children
- a lawyer acting only for adults.
Business owners and operators
You need a blue card if you own, operate or control a business that usually provides legal support services to children.
This includes services provided:
- in person when a worker is alone with a child
- online
- over the phone.
Examples
You need a blue card if you are:
- a sole practitioner who provides legal support services to children
- a partner in a legal practice that provides legal support services to children
- a business owner whose legal practice provides legal support services to children
- an executive officer of a legal practice that provides legal support services to children
- a sole practitioner who provides legal support to children online or over the phone
- a partner or business owner whose workers meet alone with children to provide support for legal proceedings
- a partner, business owner or executive officer whose workers provide emotional support, mentoring or pastoral care to children as part of legal proceedings.
You do not need a blue card is if you are:
- a sole practitioner who provides services only to adults
- a partner or business owner whose business does not usually provide services to children.
More information
You can find more information about: