In 2021, Safe Work Australia released a model Code of Practice (CoP) for Working in Extreme Heat. The latest iteration of that code was released by the Australian Capital Territory on November 7, 2025. It is greatly expanded and much clearer on the prevention and management of exposures. When companies are claiming “best practice” safety, this CoP is particularly interesting.
In the landscape of occupational health and safety (OHS), executive leadership is often framed through the lens of compliance. However, as I and others have long argued, the law is the minimum; leadership must aim higher. Across hundreds of SafetyAtWorkBlog articles, a consistent theme emerges – safety leadership must evolve from bureaucratic oversight to moral accountability.
Continue reading “What changes does Leadership Require”Safe Work Australia has many submissions to its Best Practice Review after a very slow start. Consultation has been extended to the end of November 2025. A curious request appeared by email invitation on November 14, 2025, developed in conjunction with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).
The email says:
“Responses will help shape future improvements to consultation, representation and participation in Australia’s WHS laws. If you’re an HSR [Health and Safety Representative], there’s a short additional section specific to that role.”
I find some of the questions and its focus odd.
The media is providing extensive coverage of the 50th anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government on 11 November 1975. Shortly before that date, Australia came within a whisker of mirroring New Zealand and gaining a national no-fault accident compensation scheme.
This would have provided:
“.a national rehabilitation and compensation scheme for Australia so that all who suffer disabling injuries, whether at home or at work, are provided with adequate income cover.”
Below is an article I wrote about this missed opportunity in October 2014 shortly after Whitlam’s death.
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are a contentious device used by lawyers, often as part of the settlement of a legal dispute. These came to the fore in the context of sexual harassment several years ago. The Victorian government has proposed a bill to Parliament that, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), will increase transparency. This should assist in determining changes to work processes that are as low as is reasonably practicable.
NDAs have been an insidious tool, especially in relation to sexual harassment at work.
Maddocks law firm has just concluded the second part of their psychological health and safety seminars. Lawyers Catherine Dunlop and Dale McQualter have the advantage of following a seminar on the same topic held by Victoria’s occupational health and safety (OHS) regulator just the other day. The advantage with this seminar is that the lawyers feel comfortable in giving their opinions and advice in contrast to the careful words of the WorkSafe people.
In 2023, a Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability recommended that the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 be amended to introduce a positive duty on all duty-holders to eliminate disability discrimination, harassment and victimisation. This echoes the imposition in 2022 of a positive duty to prevent sexual harassment. Occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation has had its positive duty to prevent work-related harm since 1985. So why this current push for positive duties?
