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Under Work Health and Safety Act 2011

Approved codes of practice — status and legal effect (ss 274–275)

Legislation date 1 Jul 2026
High severity
NSW · Codes of practice WHS Act 2011 NSW > Part 2 > s 26A; Part 14 > ss 274–275 § 274-275
The obligation
From 1 July 2026, s 26A requires PCBUs to comply with approved codes of practice or demonstrate an equivalent or higher standard of protection. Non-compliance with a code can itself constitute a breach.
Section 26A, inserted by the Workplace Protections Act and commenced 1 July 2026, imposes a mandatory duty on PCBUs to comply with any approved code of practice applicable to their work, or to manage the relevant hazard by an alternative method achieving an equal or higher standard of WHS. This replaces the previous evidentiary-only status of codes. SafeWork NSW need not prove an incident occurred — failure to meet a code can directly establish a WHS Act breach. …
What
From 1 July 2026, s 26A requires PCBUs to comply with approved codes of practice or demonstrate an equivalent or higher standard of protection. Non-compliance with a code can itself constitute a breach.
Source
legislation.nsw.gov.au

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What's happened with this Topic

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1 Jul 2026 · Amended
1 update tracked. This law has changed and been enforced.

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Labels
codes of practice s 26A enforceable PCBU compliance benchmark
Official sources
Frequently asked questions

Which WHS law does this come from?

Approved codes of practice — status and legal effect (ss 274–275) is a WHS requirement set out in Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). The relevant provision is WHS Act 2011 NSW > Part 2 > s 26A; Part 14 > ss 274–275 § 274-275.

What does this WHS obligation require?

Approved codes of practice — status and legal effect (ss 274–275) is a WHS obligation under Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). In short, From 1 July 2026, s 26A requires PCBUs to comply with approved codes of practice or demonstrate an equivalent or higher standard of protection. Non-compliance with a code can itself constitute a breach.

What changed recently?

Approved codes of practice — status and legal effect (ss 274–275) was last updated on 13 August 2026.

About this Topic

ParentWork Health and Safety Act 2011
JurisdictionNSW
CountryAustralia
Updates tracked1
Monitoring detail
First seenAug 2026