Australia: OHS Harmonisation

The quest for a national or harmonised approach to occupational health and safety continues.

In April this year, Safe Work Australia approved the current version of the model Work Health and Safety Act. That version incorporated technical and drafting amendments, endorsed by the Workplace Relations Ministers' Council, which were made following a period of public comment.

With the model Act as good as done, the focus is now on developing appropriate accompanying regulations and codes of practice.  To that end, Safe Work Australia recently released for public comment the draft model Work Health and Safety Regulations (Regulations) and some priority Codes of Practice (Codes).  To access the Regulations and the Codes, please click here...

Next steps

Interested parties will have until early April 2011 to submit comments to Safe Work Australia about the Regulations and the Codes, after which time Safe Work Australia will consider the submissions and determine whether to amend the Regulations and the Codes in any way.

In mid 2011, Safe Work Australia will present the Regulations and the Codes, as amended, to the Workplace Relations Ministers' Council for approval.

What does the future hold?

At this stage, the plan is for the harmonised occupational health and safety laws to be adopted by all States, Territories and the Commonwealth so that they commence operation in January 2012.

Whether that will actually occur, remains unclear, particularly in New South Wales, where Premier Keneally has expressed reservations about adopting the model laws unless New South Wales is allowed to retain union initiated prosecutions and a reverse onus of proof (i.e. that the onus of proving what is reasonably practicable to identify and control safety risks should rest with employers as defendants, and not with the prosecutor).

Further, while the Western Australian government supports the principles of harmonisation, it has previously flagged an intention to retain key features of its own occupational health and safety legislation going forward.

Can we help?

Gadens Lawyers has specialist expertise in workplace safety.

If you would like our assistance preparing submissions on the Regulations and Codes, or if you would like our advice about the impact of the model laws on your business generally, please let us know.

For more information, please contact:

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.