Work Health and Safety Amendment 2022

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Work Health and Safety Amendment Bill 2022

## What it does
This bill makes three main changes to how workplace safety is managed in Australia. It gives Safe Work Australia (the national safety watchdog) new powers to request information from people and organisations about workplace safety matters. It also updates the definition of Western Australia's workplace safety laws and changes how workplace negligence is treated in safety regulations.

## Why it matters
These changes strengthen the government's ability to investigate and understand workplace safety issues across the country, which could lead to better prevention of injuries and deaths at work. Clearer rules about negligence also make it easier to hold employers and workers accountable when things go wrong.

## Key details
- **Safe Work Australia's new power**: The CEO can now formally request information from anyone they believe has relevant details about workplace safety. People have at least 14 days to respond, and they can't refuse based on other laws.
- **Western Australia update**: The bill updates references to WA's workplace safety laws to match their 2020 Act.
- **Negligence changes**: The law now covers both negligent *and* reckless conduct in workplace safety breaches (previously it mainly focused on recklessness).

Official Description

Amends the: Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to: include negligence as a fault element in relation to a category one offence; clarify that a work group is negotiated with workers who are proposed to form the work group; amend the obligation to train health and safety representatives to provide that representatives are entitled to choose a course of training; amend the process for the issuing and services of notices under the Act; enable an inspector, within 30 days of entering a workplace, to issue certain written notices relating to the reason for entry; specify that Comcare is able to share information with certain other persons for the purpose of performing functions under relevant laws; extend from 12 to 18 months the deadline for a person to make a request to the regulator to bring a prosecution for a category one or two offence; prohibit a person from entering into a contract of insurance to provide coverage over liability for monetary penalties imposed under the Act, and create a related offence; and Safe Work Australia Act 2008 to specify that Safe Work Australia may be provided with information necessary to its data and evidence functions.

Committee Referrals

Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

1 Dec 2022

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Outcome date

21 Mar 2023

Last checked by Crossbench

yesterday

Full text indexed

yesterday

How Parliament Voted

Senate26 Mar 2024

Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Safety and Other Measures) Bill 2024 - Third Reading - Pass the bill

AYES

–

NOES

FAILED

Constituent votes

Voting is closed — this bill has been decided by parliament.

No votes yet.

No votes were recorded for this bill.

🔒 Voting closed — this bill has been decided by parliament