We are responsible for the Commonwealth’s Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act). The WHS Act applies to the Commonwealth, public authorities and a small number of companies (non-Commonwealth licensees).
Work health and safety (WHS) law in Australia is legislated and regulated separately by each of Australia’s state, territory, and Commonwealth jurisdictions. WHS laws are largely harmonised across the jurisdictions through a set of uniform laws (the model WHS laws). All jurisdictions other than Victoria have adopted the model WHS laws. Victoria has similar duties and responsibilities under its Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic).
The Commonwealth works closely with the states and territories through Safe Work Australia to develop and maintain the model WHS laws. The model WHS laws are comprised of the model Work Health and Safety Act, model Regulations and model Codes of Practice.
State and territory WHS regulators are each responsible for enforcing and regulating their jurisdiction’s WHS laws. In the Commonwealth jurisdiction, the regulator is Comcare.
Meetings of Work Health and Safety Ministers
Ministers responsible for WHS from the Commonwealth and each state and territory meet to discuss and advance WHS matters of national importance.
Communiqués from past meetings:
Recent updates
On 18 September 2024, Commonwealth, state and territory WHS Ministers met to discuss a number of key WHS matters, including recent workplace safety data, new national strategic plans for asbestos and silica, and dispute resolution processes.