As the saying goes; “the only constant is change”. The WHS landscape in Australia is no different: it is a continually shifting environment across Australian jurisdictions.

Regulators, industry, and workplaces are addressing both traditional safety risks and new challenges, including emerging hazards, legislative updates, and changes related to workplace culture, wellbeing, and technology. Some of these include:

National Research Priorities: A Smarter, More Inclusive Approach

Safe Work Australia recently released its updated WHS & Workers’ Compensation Research Strategy, highlighting five priority areas:

  • Shifting mindsets around fundamental duties,
  • Prevention of psychosocial harm,
  • Advancing technology,
  • The changing nature of work, and
  • System effectiveness.

Particularly notable is the emphasis on ‘vulnerable workers’ as cohorts with higher risk profiles – people with a disability, older people, young people, migrants, shift workers, as well as women and gender-diverse workers in male-dominated industries.

Safe Work Australia also evaluated regulatory frameworks, identifying where gaps exist and exploring how harmonisation can be improved.

Regulatory Change & Legislative Reform

There were several legislative changes of note implemented in 2025:

  • In Queensland, the priorities shifted somewhat under the LNP government. The previous government’s mandated Sexual Harassment Prevention Plans came into force, but a raft of HSR-related amendments were tabled, and the requirements for audiometric testing were enhanced.
  • The new WHS Regulation in NSW became effective in late August, with a range of administrative-type amendments and the strengthening of requirements to manage psychosocial risks using the hierarchy of controls.
  • The NSW Government will implement major fire safety regulation changes on 13 February 2026, following updates to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021, that will require building owners to apply mandatory procedures for maintaining fire safety measures in accordance with Australian Standard AS1851-2012 or the relevant performance solutions. For details refer to the NSW Government Reforms to building fire safety regulation.
  • Victoria is still operating differently to the other states which have adopted the harmonised model WHS laws. They are also exploring different WHSMS auditing requirements for self-insured organisations.
  • Across the board, a number of jurisdictions had a heightened focus on engineered stone, with new codes of practice and imposed silica dust exposure standards.
  • All Australian jurisdictions have enacted some form of regulations covering psychosocial hazards, requiring workplaces to put in place preventive systems and controls, as well as strategies to manage the mental health and wellbeing impacts should an incident occur.

The challenges ahead for 2026

  • Managing psychological injury and workplace behaviour and understanding the Regulator’s position in relation to the requirements. Legal decisions will provide a fertile ground for learning how the requirements are interpreted and the extent to which the controls need to be operationalised and embedded in Job design.
  • Non‑traditional work arrangements (gig work, remote work, shift compression) increase complexity in duties, reporting, and safety culture.
  • Technology provides safety tools but also creates new risks. Automation, AI, robotics and autonomous systems are being more widely adopted, prompting questions over how WHS laws will address these.
  • Gaining a greater understanding of a PCBU’s shared duties, and how these requirements should be enacted.
  • Managing these challenges, and the traditional WHS risk exposures, within the current economic pressures, with resource limitations and operational requirements.

Please contact us for more information or assistance.