Work Health and Safety Act 2011

Duty of businesses that manage or control fixtures, fittings or plant (s 21)

Oct 2026

A business that manages or controls fixtures, fittings or plant at a workplace must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that they a...

Medium

1 citation

Duty of businesses that manage or control workplaces (s 20)

Oct 2026

A business that manages or controls a workplace must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace, its entry and exit, an...

Medium

1 citation

Incident notification obligations (s 35–38)

Jul 2026

PCBUs must immediately notify the regulator of notifiable incidents (death, serious injury/illness, or dangerous incident) and preserve the...

High

1 citation

Managing psychosocial hazards — duties under the WHS Act and Code of Practice

Jul 2026

PCBUs must identify and manage psychosocial hazards at work; the Model Code of Practice on Psychosocial Hazards provides practical complianc...

High

2 citations

Model WHS Act and Regulations amendments published — December 2025

Aug 2026

Safe Work Australia published amendments to the model WHS Act and Regulations in December 2025 following WHS Ministers' Council approval.

Medium

1 citation

No levying of workers and no contracting out (ss 272–273)

Oct 2026

A business must not impose, or permit, a levy or charge on a worker for anything done or provided in relation to work health and safety.

Medium

1 citation

Offences and penalties — Categories 1, 2 and 3 (ss 31–33)

Jul 2026

Three-tier penalty regime for WHS breaches: Category 1 (reckless conduct, up to 5 years imprisonment and/or $3M for PCBU); Category 2 (failu...

High

1 citation

Officer due diligence obligation (s 27)

Jul 2026

Officers of a PCBU must exercise due diligence to ensure the PCBU complies with its WHS duties.

High

1 citation

Primary duty of care — PCBUs (s 19)

Jul 2026

A PCBU must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and others at the workplace.

High

1 citation

Principles that apply to health and safety duties

Oct 2026

Part 2 sets principles that apply to all duties under the Act, including that a duty cannot be transferred and a person may hold more than o...

Low

1 citation

What is reasonably practicable in ensuring health and safety (s 18)

Oct 2026

Section 18 defines reasonably practicable as what is, or was at a particular time, reasonably able to be done to ensure health and safety, w...

Low

1 citation