Almost a decade after WorkCover NSW was abolished and replaced with SafeWork NSW, iCare and the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, a new WHS regulatory model will soon be introduced.

Earlier this year, the Minns Government introduced the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Bill 2025 (Bill) to Parliament as part of their commitment to strengthen the NSW WHS framework. This follows concerns about SafeWork’s ability to operate as an independent and autonomous regulator while housed within the Department of Customer Service. These concerns were raised via an extensive independent review conducted by the Honourable Robert McDougall KC into SafeWork’s functions under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). The McDougall Report made 46 recommendations focused on enhancing SafeWork’s enforcement functions and regulatory capabilities.

Whilst this Bill was passed by Parliament on 25 March 2025 and has now received assent, its provisions will not commence until 1 July 2025.

Key changes introduced by the Bill

New governance model led by SafeWork Commissioner

This Bill creates a new governance model in which SafeWork will be removed from the Department of Customer Service to operate as a standalone executive agency led by the newly created role of SafeWork Commissioner.

New SafeWork Advisory Council

The Bill also establishes a SafeWork Advisory Council, consisting of the SafeWork Commissioner and 8 to 12 members. The role of the Advisory Council will be to monitor emerging WHS risks and trends and to advise the SafeWork Commissioner on the strategic direction and priorities of SafeWork.

New rules around membership of advisory bodies

To ensure that the recommendations raised in the McDougall Report are addressed and that the views of the public on WHS matters are adequately represented, the Bill challenges the typical tripartite arrangements used for the membership of advisory bodies (that is, employers, unions and governments) and adopts the advisory model adopted by the Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee for WorkSafe Victoria. To this end the Bill stipulates that of the SafeWork Commissioner and union and employer representatives:

• at least one member be an expert in the field of WHS; and
• at least one member be a representative of a WHS support organisation or a person who has a lived experience with a workplace injury or death.

New reporting requirements

In an effort to achieve greater transparency, the Bill requires the SafeWork Commissioner to report on the achievements, challenges, program management and regulatory engagement governance of SafeWork every 6 months. These reports will be published on the SafeWork website.

Key takeaways

There has been a significant transformation of the WHS landscape in NSW in the past few years, including:

• the introduction of the offence of industrial manslaughter
• the establishment of a framework to manage crystalline silica dust
• positive duties in respect of psychosocial factors
• an increase to the number of SafeWork inspectors

While this has no doubt already given SafeWork cause to consider its strategic enforcement priorities, we expect that once it becomes a standalone regulator, this will further shape its approach towards compliance and result in increased enforcement activities.

To ensure compliance with WHS obligations, and in anticipation of increased enforcement activity, we recommend that duty holders should take proactive steps to:

• review their WHS systems, procedures and policies to verify they are compliant with WHS laws
• conduct risk assessments to identify current or potential risks within their organisation and implement measures to eliminate (or control) these identified risks
• provide regular training to ensure that workers have up-to-date knowledge of WHS matters as well as the organisation’s policies and procedure
• ensure officers understand and are complying with WHS due diligence obligations
• develop and maintain a positive WHS culture where workers are encouraged to take a vigilant approach to WHS and to raise and respond to safety issues and concerns whenever they arise.