Photo caption: Sinead McHugh and Bayley Horne from Safe Work Australia’s Best Practice Review team ahead of a stakeholder consultation meeting.
WHS ministers have asked Safe Work Australia to conduct a Best Practice Review of the model work health and safety (WHS) laws. The Best Practice Review will examine and make recommendations on whether the model WHS Act and model WHS Regulations continue to incorporate a best practice approach that achieves the object of the model WHS Act within the context of strengthening and maintaining harmonisation. Within this context, Safe Work Australia has been conducting a formal stakeholder consultation process.
Towards harmonisation
The experiences of those engaging with the WHS framework, including unions, workers health and safety representatives, employers and employer representatives from around the country, is central to the evidence base the review will draw on to examine what best practice looks like and how it can be achieved in the context of maintaining and strengthening a harmonised approach to the model WHS laws.
The harmonised system for Australia’s WHS laws was introduced in 2011 via the establishment of model WHS laws, and all jurisdictions except Victoria subsequently enacted the laws. The objective of the harmonised WHS regulatory framework is for workers across Australia to have the same protections no matter where they work. It is also designed to provide regulatory consistency for those businesses working across multiple jurisdictions.
Some minor jurisdictional variations to the model WHS laws are necessary to accommodate jurisdictional differences such as institutional arrangements (e.g. court processes) and local laws (e.g. criminal law). However, further variations have been made over time in response to emerging hazards, shifts in jurisdictional priorities and other developments specific to individual jurisdictions. The review will examine and consider these variations.
Best Practice Review consultation
The team has visited every state and territory to discuss the review with regulators, unions, businesses and other interested parties. In Western Australia, the team visited Bunbury, where they met with workers from the mining, meat processing and firefighting industries. In South Australia, the team accompanied amusement device safety professionals at the Royal Adelaide Show, where there have been serious and fatal incidents in the past. The team has also met with community organisations including the Multicultural Council of Tasmania and the Northern Territory Women’s Working Centre.
This in-person engagement, together with online consultations, a written submission process and online questionnaires through the Safe Work Australia’s Consultation Hub, will ensure the review can be informed by a diverse range of experiences and people with first hand knowledge of the model WHS framework.
‘The qualitative data we’re gathering through our formal consultation process, particularly from travelling to each capital city, has been incredibly valuable. But our engagement doesn’t just stop there. Our goal is to meet with anyone who wants to talk to us right through to March 2026 when we will be releasing our consultation summary. As the national policy agency for WHS, it’s incredibly valuable for us to hear how the model laws are working in practice.’
The insights and intelligence we gain from our consultation and stakeholder engagement activities will also have practical use in improving our evidence base, complementing our research and data effort.
Looking ahead
The review also has an eye to the future. Since the harmonisation of the model WHS laws, the nature of work has significantly transformed – globalisation, rapid technological advancement, demographic shifts and new business models are all impacting how Australians live and work. ‘The last review of the model WHS laws was in 2018, but so much has changed about the world of work even in that time,’ says Sinead. ‘Our meetings with different groups have given us a lot to consider in terms of technology and the nature of work, and how these interact with health and safety.’
Looking ahead to 2026, the Best Practice Review Team will continue engaging with stakeholders as they work through the data from meetings, the online survey and formal submissions. A consultation summary will be published in March 2026, and the final Review report is due to be presented to WHS ministers in mid-2026.
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