In this article we explore four of the key issues and trends affecting organisations globally from a work health and safety perspective, both now and in the future: global WHS regulation; the rise of technology; changing workforce populations and structures; and psychosocial hazards and risks.
In examining these trends, we have been struck by
The Workplace Fairness Act 2024[1] (WFA) was passed into law by the Singapore Parliament (Parliament) on 8 January 2025, signifying a significant step in legally prohibiting certain discriminatory behaviours in the workplace, and mandatorily requiring employers in Singapore to implement grievance handling procedures to meet compulsory requirements.
This landmark legislation
The Australian Government has recently approved a new Code of Practice – Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work under section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth). The new Code is largely based on Safe Work Australia’s model code of practice of the same name, but there are some important differences.
A summary
Queensland’s new state government has moved urgently to make changes to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (WHS Act). We set out below a summary of the changes which were passed by Parliament late on Thursday 28 November 2024 and commenced on Friday 29 November 2024.
Only a few
This article was co-authored by Emma Anvari.
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry report published in August 2024 concerning workplace drug testing (the Report) contains key recommendations relating to medicinal cannabis for both the Victorian Government and WorkSafe Victoria.
The terms of reference for the Victorian Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee (Committee) included inquiring into the
By Nicki Milionis, Isobelle Martin and with thanks to Amy Moore
In July, the Queensland Government announced a “nation-leading” regulatory reform requiring persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to proactively address workplace sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment. The first tranche of these changes will take effect from 1 September 2024, following the
By Nicki Milionis and Yasmine Sahihi
On 2 August 2024, Safe Work Australia announced that the Work Health and Safety (WHS) ministers had accepted recommendations to revise the incident reporting framework of the model WHS Act, including in relation to notification of psychosocial hazards and psychological harm.[1] At the time of writing, the relevant
Authors: Katherine Morris, Michael McCrea
Introduction
A recent decision of the District Court of New South Wales has clarified the content, nature and extent of an officer’s duty to exercise due diligence in relation to safety matters under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (WHS Act).
Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU)
Flexible work arrangements (FWA) have become increasingly common in recent years, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic requiring most workers to work from home. Many employees and jobseekers now expect employers to offer flexible work arrangements; it was recently reported that 1 in 2 Singapore workers would quit their job if asked
This article was co-authored with Anastasia Gravas and Yasmine Sahihi.
On 23 April 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to ban non-compete clauses, which prevent a worker from seeking or accepting new employment within an industry after the termination of their employment. The ruling, while already subject to legal challenge, stands as