The short answer
Grooming a child under 16 is a crime in Queensland under section 218B of the Criminal Code (Qld), as at 30 July 2026. It does not require any sexual act to have actually happened, and it does not require the contact to have been online: in-person conduct is enough, and so is a single message. The maximum penalty is 5 years’ imprisonment, rising to 10 years if the child is under 12. Where the conduct involved online communication, two other charges commonly sit alongside it: section 218A of the Queensland Code, using electronic communication to procure a child, which carries 10 years (14 years in some circumstances), and the Commonwealth carriage-service offences, which carry up to 15 years.
If you’re being investigated for, or have been charged with, a grooming offence, contact us for confidential, non-judgemental advice, any time (available 24/7 for urgent matters). See also our full guide to defending sexual offence allegations.
What does “grooming” actually mean under Queensland law?
Section 218B is not about images or possession; it is about preparatory conduct directed at a child, or at an adult who has care of a child. An adult commits the offence if they engage in conduct in relation to a child under 16, or in relation to a person who has care of that child, with intent to either:
- facilitate the procurement of the child to engage in a sexual act (with the adult, or with someone else), whether in Queensland or elsewhere; or
- expose the child, without legitimate reason, to indecent matter (words, images, or anything else of that kind), whether in Queensland or elsewhere.
The section was extended in 2020 so that the conduct can be directed at the child’s parent or carer instead of the child. The intent that has to be proved is the same either way: the prosecution still has to prove the adult intended to facilitate the child’s procurement for a sexual act, or to expose the child to indecent matter. What changes is who the conduct was aimed at.
That intent has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The conduct itself can be as brief as a single conversation or message, provided the intent behind it is there.
Does grooming have to happen online?
No. Section 218B applies whether the conduct occurs online, in person, or by any other means. In practice, most grooming charges do arise from messaging apps, social media or online gaming platforms, and are often uncovered during a separate investigation, for example when police examine a suspect’s devices for an unrelated matter, which is why grooming allegations frequently surface alongside child exploitation material charges. But an in-person conversation, note or gift given with the relevant intent can just as easily found a charge.
What if the “child” was never real?
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of the law, and it accounts for a large share of the online cases that reach court.
Under s 218B, “child” includes a person the adult believes is under 16, whether that person is real or a fictitious person represented to the adult as a real person under 16. Section 218A works the same way: it covers a person the adult believes is under 16. So an undercover police operative, or a profile that never belonged to a real child, is enough to found a charge. The Commonwealth offences say the same thing: it does not matter that the recipient the sender believed they were communicating with was a fictitious person represented as real.
Two further points follow from that:
- Impossibility is not an answer to the charge. Section 218B(8) says it does not matter that, because of circumstances the adult did not know about, it was impossible in fact for the child to engage in the sexual act. The Commonwealth Code contains an equivalent provision for its procuring and grooming offences.
- Age representations are presumed to be believed. Section 218B(9) provides that evidence the child was represented to the adult as being under 16 (or under 12) is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that the adult believed the child was that age. The Commonwealth offences have a matching rule.
What is the maximum penalty for grooming in Queensland?
| Offence | Circumstance | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Grooming (s 218B) | Base offence (child 12 or over, under 16) | 5 years’ imprisonment |
| Grooming (s 218B) | Child under 12 | 10 years’ imprisonment |
| Using electronic communication to procure (s 218A) | Base offence | 10 years’ imprisonment |
| Using electronic communication to procure (s 218A) | Child under 12, or the adult intentionally meets the child or goes to a place intending to meet them | 14 years’ imprisonment |
These are the maximum penalties available to a court. The sentence actually imposed depends heavily on the individual circumstances, including the nature and extent of the conduct, whether it progressed towards an actual meeting or offence, and the person’s own history and prospects.
How is grooming different from using the internet to procure a child?
They are separate offences and they are often charged together, so it matters which one the police have actually alleged.
Section 218B (grooming) is about conduct engaged in with intent to facilitate the child’s procurement for a sexual act, or to expose the child to indecent matter. It captures the earlier stage: building rapport, testing boundaries, sending indecent material. It is not limited to electronic communication.
Section 218A (using internet etc. to procure children under 16) is narrower in method and heavier in penalty. It applies where an adult uses electronic communication with intent to procure a person under 16, or a person they believe is under 16, to engage in a sexual act. The maximum is 10 years, rising to 14 years if the child is under 12, or if the adult intentionally met the child or went to a place intending to meet them.
The practical significance is the gap in exposure. The same conversation charged as grooming carries a 5 year maximum; charged as procuring, with a meeting attempted, it carries 14. Where the two are charged as alternatives, or where the prosecution says an exchange crossed the line from grooming into procuring, that distinction is worth contesting properly.
Can I be charged with grooming even though nothing sexual actually happened?
Yes. Grooming is a preparatory offence: it is complete once the prohibited conduct and the required intent are both proven, regardless of whether any sexual act, meeting, or further offence ever occurred. The Code puts this beyond argument, providing that it is not necessary to prove the adult intended to facilitate any particular sexual act, that it does not matter if the act was impossible in fact, and that it does not matter when the adult intended the procurement would happen.
This surprises a lot of people, particularly where the communication itself looks innocuous on its face. Whether the prosecution can actually prove the necessary intent from the words used, and whether an ambiguous message is capable of an innocent explanation, is very often where these cases are won or lost, which is why early, careful review of the actual messages or conversation is critical.
Is there a separate Commonwealth charge for online grooming?
Often, yes, and the federal penalties are substantially higher than the Queensland ones. Where the conduct used a “carriage service”, meaning a phone network or the internet, it can be prosecuted under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) as a separate charge from the Queensland offence.
| Commonwealth offence | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Using a carriage service to groom a person under 16 (s 474.27) | 15 years’ imprisonment |
| Using a carriage service to groom a parent or carer, to make it easier to procure a child (s 474.27AA) | 15 years’ imprisonment |
| Using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 (s 474.26) | 15 years’ imprisonment |
| Using a carriage service to prepare or plan to engage in sexual activity with, or procure, a person under 16 (s 474.25C) | 10 years’ imprisonment |
| Using a carriage service to transmit an indecent communication to a person under 16 (s 474.27A) | 10 years’ imprisonment |
Two features of the Commonwealth scheme matter for anyone facing these charges. First, the age element is one of absolute liability: the prosecution does not have to prove the accused knew, or was reckless about, the recipient being under 16. Second, there is a statutory defence where the defendant proves that, at the time the communication was sent, they believed the recipient was at least 16. That defence puts the burden on the defendant, and the court may take into account whether the belief was reasonable in the circumstances, so it turns heavily on what the messages themselves show.
Which jurisdiction charges a matter, state, Commonwealth, or both, depends on how the investigation started and which agency is involved. It is a genuinely complex area, and the interaction between the two regimes needs to be assessed case by case.
What should I do if police contact me about a grooming allegation?
If you’re contacted for a “chat” about messages you sent, or police attend to execute a search warrant, what you say (or don’t say) in that moment matters more than almost anything that follows. You are not obliged to participate in an interview, and anything you do say can be used against you; our guide to your rights in a police interview explains what those rights actually are and how to exercise them.
If a charge follows, it moves through the same process as any other sexual offence allegation: investigation, a charging decision, a first court date, and then either a plea or a committal towards trial; our guide to what happens after a sexual offence charge sets out each stage.
Get advice early
Grooming allegations move fast and are often built from a small number of messages examined closely out of context. Getting advice before you say anything further to police, or before you respond to any contact connected to the allegation, is the single most important thing you can do. If you’ve been contacted by police or charged with a grooming offence, contact us for a confidential discussion of your situation.
This article is general legal information, not advice about your situation.
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