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
Following amendments made by Safe Work Australia (SWA) to the model Work Health and Safety Act and the model Work Health and Safety Regulations (model WHS Regulations) in June 2022 (see our related blog articles here and here), the Commonwealth, and most States and Territories have implemented specific regulatory duties
SafeWork NSW has approved Australia’s first Work Health and Safety (WHS) Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards at work (the Code). The Code took effect on 28 May 2021.
The WHS Act provides that an approved code of practice is admissible in Court proceedings as evidence of whether or not a duty or obligation under the WHS Act has been complied with. A Court may have regard to an approved code of practice as evidence of what is known about a hazard or risk, risk assessment or risk control, and rely on the code of practice in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances. Therefore, compliance with the Code will be an essential part of organisations complying with their duties under the WHS Act in respect of psychosocial hazards and risks.
The Code offers practical guidance to persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) and other duty holders under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (WHS Act) on the process for identifying and managing psychosocial hazards and risks at work, to assist PCBUs and other duty holders in meeting their WHS responsibilities.
For the first time in the 37 years since the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (OSH Act) came into effect, an individual has been sentenced to imprisonment in Western Australia. The successful prosecution may be one of the last prosecutions brought under the OSH Act which is soon to be replaced by
The long-awaited meeting of Australian WHS Ministers to discuss the response to the 34 recommendations contained in the Marie Boland independent review of the model Work Health and Safety Laws final report (published in February 2019) (Boland report), took place on 20 May 2021. We have previously discussed the Boland report and its
The focus on sexual harassment in the workplace, particularly as a risk to the psychological health of employees, has continued in 2021.
Australian Human Rights Commission report into workplace sexual harassment
The Respect@Work: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces published in March 2020 (Respect@Work Report), found that whilst the Model
The Work Health and Safety Bill 2019 (WA) received assent on 10 November 2020 (WHS Act). The WHS Act introduces the offence of industrial manslaughter and will harmonise WA’s work health and safety (WHS) laws with most other Australian states and territories. This harmonisation is long overdue in WA with the other states
Earlier this year, the Respect@Work – National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces, conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission made key recommendations addressing psychological health and sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. Specifically the inquiry recommended:
Background
On 25 October 2016, Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Cindy Low & Roozbeh Araghi suffered fatal injuries on Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids Ride after the raft they had been travelling in collided with another raft.
Coroner James McDougall undertook a Coronial Inquest (Inquest) which resulted in the Findings of Inquest (Findings)
The Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales considered this issue in Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer v Hill [2020] NSWCA 54,[1] confirming that a death which happened while working from home occurred as a result of injury arising out of and in the course of the deceased’s employment.