The future of WHS incident notification and board reporting in Australian workplaces

Recent amendments to the model Work Health and Safety Act reflect a deliberate effort to ensure Australia’s incident notification regime keeps pace with the hazards and risks present in contemporary workplaces.

The changes bring greater clarity to reporting obligations for organisations and will provide leaders with more detail on psychosocial or injury-related trends that need to be addressed.

Reform years in the making

The foundations for the changes were laid in the Review of the model Work Health and Safety laws: Final Report (December 2018). Recommendation 20 called for incident notification provisions to be revisited so they would capture psychological injuries and emerging risks arising from new work practices, industries and work arrangements.

On 5 December 2025, Safe Work Australia published amendments to the model WHS Act giving effect to that recommendation.

What’s changing — and why it matters

The updated provisions significantly broaden the scope of notifiable incidents, bringing several high-risk and previously under-reported matters squarely within the regulatory framework.

Notifiable incidents will now include:

• Dangerous incidents involving mobile plant and falls
• Violent incidents, including sexual assault
• Work-related suicide and attempted suicide
• Extended worker absences of 15 or more consecutive calendar days.

The changes address long-recognised gaps, particularly in relation to psychosocial hazards and psychological harm.

Clearer triggers, tighter timeframes

Importantly, the amendments provide greater clarity around when notification is required, supporting more consistent reporting across industries and jurisdictions.

• For notifiable incidents and notifiable suicides (including attempted suicide), notification is required immediately after the business becomes aware of the incident or suicide
• For extended worker absences, notification must occur within 14 days of becoming aware of the absence.

This clarity is likely to reduce uncertainty for duty holders while lifting expectations around timeliness and accuracy.

A chance to strengthen reporting systems

For many organisations, the reforms present an opportunity rather than a disruption.

Businesses are already tracking psychosocial risks and injury-related absences — the amendments help bring these efforts together.

Prudent organisations will be assessing whether:

• Incident reporting systems can capture the new categories
• HR and IT systems can identify and flag extended absences
• Safety management systems are updated and aligned.

Communication counts

There is also an opportunity to revisit how incident notification policies are communicated internally.

Clear, accessible procedures — developed in consultation with the workforce — support early reporting and more effective risk management. When workers understand what must be reported and why, organisations are better placed to respond quickly.

Implications for boards and executives

From a governance perspective, the expanded notification categories will require more robust board and executive WHS reporting.

Richer data on psychosocial harm, violence and absence trends will be critical to meeting officer duties and informing proactive risk management.

Boards should expect more detailed insights into WHS performance — and more searching questions about organisational culture and controls.

What happens next

As with all model WHS laws, the amendments will only take effect once adopted by individual jurisdictions.

In the meantime, organisations would be well advised to monitor developments closely and prepare for implementation.

Key takeaways for boards:

• Notification thresholds are expanding — incidents involving psychosocial harm, violence, suicide and extended absences will now demand closer scrutiny.
• Timeliness matters — immediate and short-form notification obligations heighten expectations around internal escalation and decision-making.
• Systems and data will be tested — boards should seek assurance that incident, HR and IT systems can identify and report notifiable matters accurately.
• WHS reporting will need to evolve — richer, trend-based reporting will be critical to meeting officer duties and supporting proactive risk management.
• Culture remains central — clear reporting pathways and workforce engagement are essential to ensure issues are identified early and addressed effectively.

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