Australia

What the model WHS law review means for employers, including schools

Short answer: Safe Work Australia published its Best Practice Review of the model WHS laws on 19 October 2026. It makes 21 recommendations to WHS ministers. On psychosocial risk, it recommends moving the risk management process, including the hierarchy of control measures, into the model WHS Act, and in the short term amending the model WHS Regulations so the hierarchy of control measures applies to psychosocial risks. It also recommends new industry-based Codes of Practice, with education and training among the sectors given initial priority. These are recommendations. They don't change the law today.

What the review is

• Published 19 October 2026 by Safe Work Australia, after WHS ministers agreed to publish it. It makes 21 recommendations. (Safe Work Australia media release)
• Given to WHS ministers on 4 August 2026. Consultation ran from September 2025 to March 2026, with more than 1,000 submissions or survey responses and over 100 meetings. The previous national review of the model WHS laws was in 2018. (Safe Work Australia review page)
• What happens next: Safe Work Australia says the recommendations will be progressed through its tripartite Member processes, with further consultation and policy development where needed. (Safe Work Australia review page)
• How the model laws take effect: the model WHS laws become legally binding in a jurisdiction when that jurisdiction adopts them. Every jurisdiction except Victoria has adopted them. (Final report, p 12)

What it recommends on psychosocial risk

• Recommendation 6: elevate the risk management process in Part 3.1 of the model WHS Regulations into the model WHS Act so it applies to all work and workplaces, and in the short term amend regulation 55C(a) so the hierarchy of control measures applies to the management of psychosocial risks. (Final report, p 8 and p 38)
• Why: the model regulations for psychosocial risks currently exclude regulation 36, the hierarchy of control measures. Queensland, South Australia, the ACT, the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth have already amended their own WHS Regulations to apply it to psychosocial risks. (Final report, p 38)
• Recommendation 4: amend section 19(3) of the model WHS Act to clarify that the duty of care includes managing risks from harmful workplace behaviours. (Final report, p 8)
• Recommendation 21: a Safe Work Australia strategy on harmful behaviours, including new model WHS Regulations on preventing work-related violence and harassment, including gender-related violence. (Final report, p 10)

The review reports that in 2023–24 there were almost 20,000 workers' compensation claims related to harmful behaviours, including 8,613 physical assaults, 7,051 cases of work-related bullying or harassment, and 3,150 exposures to work-related violence and harassment causing mental stress. (Final report, p 129)

Why education is in focus

• Industry codes: Recommendation 16 is to develop industry-based Codes of Practice, each with a small business implementation toolkit, with initial priority given to sectors including retail, education and training, and agriculture. Priorities were set by workforce size, fatality and injury data, and how much guidance already exists. (Final report, p 9 and p 97)
• What an industry code would cover: the review describes industry codes as plain English, practical guidance on how to assess risks, consult and put effective controls in place for common hazards in that industry. It doesn't set out the content of an education code. (Final report, p 96)
• Following a code: Recommendation 15 is that a person who follows a Code is taken to have met the relevant WHS duty for the matters that Code addresses. (Final report, p 9)
• Harmful behaviours: the review names education and training, with public administration and safety, and healthcare and social assistance, as industries where the risks of harmful behaviours are significant and, in the review's words, "can often be overlooked during compliance and enforcement activities". It notes these risks are disproportionately experienced by women. (Final report, p 129)

What hasn't changed

The model WHS Regulations have included specific psychosocial regulations since 2022. Under regulation 55D, employers put control measures in place to eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks, so far as is reasonably practicable. The model Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards lists 14 common examples, including violence and aggression, conflict or poor workplace relationships, bullying, and harassment, including sexual harassment. (Final report, p 127)

Victoria sits outside the model WHS framework and has its own OHS laws. See Psychosocial hazards in Australia and what counts as a psychosocial hazard.

What schools and other employers can do now

None of these steps depend on the review being adopted:

1. Check your psychosocial risk assessment covers behaviour, including aggression, bullying and harassment from anyone staff deal with at work.
2. Look at how you choose controls. Start with changes to the work itself, such as workload, staffing and how incidents are handled, before relying on training or individual support.
3. Consult staff and health and safety representatives about the hazards they see and the controls that would help.
4. Hear from staff between surveys, so you can spot changes after an incident, a busy term or a staffing gap.
5. Track what happens next on our Australian psychosocial regulation tracker.

For assessment tools regulators point to, see Psychosocial risk assessment tools for Australian workplaces.

How WellbeingSolutions can help

WellbeingSolutions combines three things in one service:

• Personalised SMS check-ins that staff answer with a text, with no app to download, so you can hear from teaching, support and casual staff between surveys.
• Triage to your chosen professional support, such as your EAP, when someone says they need help. If your organisation doesn't have an EAP, anyone who needs help is guided to government support services.
• A confidential psychosocial risk assessment informed by ISO 45003 guidance, taking 8 to 12 minutes, with anonymised trend reporting for leaders.

Using it isn't a statement that a duty has been met. See how check-ins work: Custom SMS check-ins.

Free 2-week SMS check-in pilot for up to 10 staff. Start your free pilot

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This page summarises public information and is not legal advice. Last checked 27 October 2026.