SafeWork NSW just made psychosocial risk a funded, state-wide enforcement priority. It's not isolated to NSW — Victoria, Queensland, WA and SA have all moved in the same direction over the past year. Here's what changed everywhere, and what it means for your organisation.
SafeWork NSW's priorities have stayed largely consistent over the past two years. For 2026-27, four hazard categories — among the leading contributors to serious injury and fatality in NSW workplaces — are named as the state's key regulatory focus:
In the 12 months leading into this statement, SafeWork NSW reported:
Healthcare and social assistance workplaces have been named a priority sector for these inspections — alongside the general shift to proactive, complaint-independent visits.
NSW's Regulatory Statement is the loudest recent signal, but it lands on top of a year of parallel moves in every other jurisdiction. If your organisation operates across state lines, the compliance bar has risen everywhere, not just where the headline is.
| Jurisdiction | What changed | Regulator posture |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Code of Practice enforceable from 1 July 2026 (s26A); 2026-27 Regulatory Statement names psychosocial risk a top-4 priority | Proactive inspections, no need to prove harm, 51 new inspectors |
| Victoria | OHS (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 commenced 1 December 2025 — explicit duty to identify, control and review psychosocial hazards, plus a new compliance code | Priority sectors named: health & social assistance, public administration & safety, education & training. Response scaled to business size, risk profile and maturity of existing controls |
| Queensland | Psychosocial hazards built into standard WHS inspection and audit checklists under the 2022 Code of Practice | Active enforcement, not education-only — inspectors expect demonstrable controls, not policy documents |
| Western Australia | State-specific Code of Practice: Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace (2024) — one of only two jurisdictions to write its own rather than adopt the model code | Explicit duty under WHS (General) Regulations 2022 to identify, eliminate or minimise psychosocial risk via the hierarchy of controls |
| South Australia | WHS (Psychosocial Risks) Amendment Regulations 2023, with an updated Code of Practice published February 2026 | SafeWork SA guidance emphasises risk registers, documented HSR consultation, and clear control-measure evidence |
| Commonwealth (Comcare) | First-ever Commonwealth employer conviction for psychosocial failure | See enforcement snapshot below — the mandate is already being executed on, not just written down |
The regulatory statements above aren't abstract intent — enforcement is already happening. One case in particular set a national precedent:
For the full archive of convictions, penalty tables by category and jurisdiction, and director/officer personal liability figures, see our companion guide, The Real Cost of Psychosocial Non-Compliance.
The psychosocial inspectors confirmed earlier this year now have their mandate in writing for the year ahead, in NSW and in parallel form in every other state. Inspectors will be actively targeting workplaces — not waiting for a claim or complaint to trigger a review.
If your organisation's psychosocial risk management still lives in a policy document nobody has looked at since it was written, this is the year that gap gets found — not by an employee complaint, but by an inspector working through a published priority list.
Case files, hazard registers, worker consultation records, action plans with owners and due dates, and cryptographically sealed reports at case closure. Everything a regulator expects to see — structured from the first assessment, in every state.
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