Australia: Victoria's new psychological health laws, what employers need to know
Victoria has long been the exception in Australia when it comes to workplace health and safety. While most other states and territories adopted the harmonised model WHS laws, Victoria has always operated under its own framework through the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.
That changed in a meaningful way on 1 December 2025, when the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 came into effect. For Victorian employers, these regulations represent a significant and enforceable shift in obligations around psychosocial risk.
Why Victoria is different
Most Australian states and territories operate under harmonised WHS laws developed by Safe Work Australia. Victoria does not. Its primary workplace health and safety legislation is the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, administered by WorkSafe Victoria.
This means Victorian employers have a separate and distinct legal framework to navigate. The new regulations sit alongside the OHS Act and introduce specific obligations for managing psychological health that did not exist in this form before.
What the new regulations require
The regulations require employers to, so far as is reasonably practicable, identify psychosocial hazards, eliminate or minimise the risks those hazards create, and monitor, review and revise the measures implemented to control those risks. These obligations apply to employees, independent contractors and labour hire workers.
Employers must consult with employees and Health and Safety Representatives when identifying hazards and developing controls. The regulations set out specific requirements for how this consultation must occur.
What counts as a psychosocial hazard in Victoria?
The regulations introduce a statutory definition of psychosocial hazard as any factor or factors in work design, systems of work, the management of work, the carrying out of work, or personal or work-related interactions that may arise in the working environment and may cause an employee to experience one or more negative psychological responses that create a risk to their health and safety.
In practice this includes bullying, sexual harassment, aggression and violence, exposure to traumatic content, excessive workloads, poor role clarity, low job control, and poor support.
When must controls be reviewed?
Employers are required to review their control measures in specific circumstances. These include before any change to a process or system of work that is likely to affect psychosocial risks, when new information about a hazard becomes available, when an employee reports a psychological injury or a psychosocial hazard, and after a notifiable incident involving a psychosocial hazard.
The Compliance Code
Alongside the regulations, WorkSafe Victoria published a Compliance Code: Psychological Health. The Code is not mandatory, but a duty holder who complies with the Code will be taken to have complied with their duties and obligations under the OHS Act and Regulations.
Importantly, failure to follow the Code can be used as evidence in legal proceedings. Employers should treat it as the practical standard they are expected to meet.
What happens if employers do not comply?
A breach of the duty may mean that an employer is subject to WorkSafe processes such as improvement notices, prohibition notices or even criminal prosecution. Any breach of the obligations under the regulations is treated as a breach of section 21 of the OHS Act.
What employers should be doing now
The regulations are already in effect. Employers should be reviewing their current policies and procedures to ensure they address psychosocial hazards specifically, consulting with employees and Health and Safety Representatives about risks, and documenting their hazard identification and control processes.
WorkSafe Victoria has published a prevention plan template to help guide the risk management process. While use of the template is not mandatory, having a documented process is one of the clearest ways to demonstrate compliance.
How HowsWork helps
HowsWork gives Victorian employers a practical way to meet their consultation and documentation obligations. Employees can raise concerns through an anonymous channel, risks are automatically logged and categorised, and employers can demonstrate they are actively identifying and responding to psychosocial hazards with an audit-ready risk register.
