Every jurisdiction now requires you to manage psychosocial hazards — here is what that means
Since the model WHS Regulations were amended in 2022, and Victoria's standalone regulations took effect on 1 December 2025, every Australian jurisdiction now legally requires employers and PCBUs to identify, assess and control psychosocial hazards — using the same structured, hierarchy-of-controls approach you would apply to a physical risk. This goes well beyond an EAP or a wellbeing policy: it is a managed safety duty.
It is anything in the way work is designed, managed or carried out that could cause psychological (and sometimes physical) harm.
The list is broader than many employers expect. Commonly recognised psychosocial hazards include high or low job demands, low job control, poor support, lack of role clarity, poor workplace relationships and conflict, low recognition, bullying, harassment (including sexual and gender-based harassment), violence and aggression, exposure to traumatic events, and remote or isolated work. Victoria's framework also expressly lists gendered violence, and the Commonwealth's guidance recognises a longer list that includes fatigue, intrusive surveillance and job insecurity.
Treat psychosocial risk like any other WHS risk: identify, assess, control and review — and consult workers.
Across the harmonised jurisdictions, a PCBU must identify reasonably foreseeable psychosocial hazards, eliminate the risks so far as is reasonably practicable, and otherwise minimise them using control measures, having regard to matters such as the duration, frequency and severity of exposure and the design of work. Crucially, this is a structured, documented process applying the hierarchy of controls — not a one-off survey or an employee assistance program bolted on at the end.
The framework was built between 2021 and the end of 2025.
| Milestone | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2021 | NSW introduced the first dedicated code of practice for managing psychosocial hazards. |
| 2022 | The model WHS Regulations were amended to require managing psychosocial risks; Western Australia also acted. |
| 2023 | Tasmania, Queensland and the Commonwealth brought in psychosocial regulations. |
| 2025 | NSW overhauled its WHS Regulation; Victoria's standalone Psychological Health Regulations took effect on 1 December 2025, completing the national picture. |
| From 1 July 2026 | In NSW, approved codes of practice become a stronger compliance benchmark. |
Dates and instruments are summarised; confirm the current position with your regulator. Source: state regulators and Safe Work Australia.
Same goal, two different legal routes.
The eight harmonised jurisdictions (NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, the ACT and the Commonwealth) address psychosocial hazards through their WHS Regulations — broadly sections 55A to 55D — supported by an approved code of practice, with Safe Work Australia's Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code as the model. Victoria, which is outside the model laws, uses its own Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 and a Compliance Code. The duties are similar in substance, but the instruments, some defined hazards and the supporting codes differ.
Mental-health claims are rising, and regulators are enforcing.
Safe Work Australia reports that mental-health conditions now make up around 12% of serious workers' compensation claims, and that the median time lost for those claims is roughly five times that of other injuries. Regulators have moved from awareness campaigns to active enforcement — for example, dedicating inspectors to psychosocial safety — so a documented, working approach is no longer optional.
New Zealand does not have separate “psychosocial regulations,” but the duty still applies.
Under New Zealand's Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, the primary duty of care covers psychological as well as physical health, so a PCBU must manage work-related risks to mental health so far as is reasonably practicable. WorkSafe New Zealand publishes guidance on mental health and work-related stress. So while the legal architecture differs, the underlying expectation — manage psychosocial risk like any other — is consistent across the Tasman.
General information, not legal advice. Psychosocial requirements vary by jurisdiction and have changed recently. Confirm the current rules and codes with your regulator.
Get a system that manages psychological risk with the same rigour as physical risk. Book a demo and we'll show you how it works — free 30-day trial included.
Yes. Every Australian jurisdiction now requires employers and PCBUs to manage psychosocial hazards. The harmonised states do so through their WHS Regulations and an approved code of practice, and Victoria through its own Psychological Health Regulations, which took effect on 1 December 2025.
High or low job demands, low job control, poor support, lack of role clarity, poor workplace relationships, bullying, harassment including sexual and gender-based harassment, violence and aggression, exposure to traumatic events, and remote or isolated work, among others.
No. The law requires a structured process — identifying psychosocial hazards, assessing the risk, and controlling it using the hierarchy of controls, then reviewing. An employee assistance program can be part of support, but it does not substitute for managing the hazards at their source.
Not as a separate set of regulations. But the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 covers psychological health within the primary duty of care, so New Zealand PCBUs must manage work-related risks to mental health so far as is reasonably practicable, supported by WorkSafe NZ guidance.
