Notices, the Category 1/2/3 offences, enforceable undertakings, and what the penalties look like
Australian WHS regulators enforce the law through a ladder of tools — advice and guidance, improvement and prohibition notices, on-the-spot infringement fines, enforceable undertakings, and prosecution. Offences are graded Category 1 (gross negligence or recklessness), Category 2 and Category 3. Penalties are indexed each year and, for a serious Category 1 offence, run into the millions for a company — plus imprisonment for individuals.
Each jurisdiction's own regulator — not Safe Work Australia.
Safe Work Australia writes the model laws but does not enforce them. Enforcement is done by the WHS regulator in each state or territory (such as SafeWork NSW or WorkSafe WA), with Comcare covering the Commonwealth scheme. Their approach is guided by the National Compliance and Enforcement Policy, which sets out how they monitor and enforce compliance.
Regulators escalate from encouraging compliance, to directing it, to sanctioning it.
In practice that means three broad levels: encourage and assist (advice, guidance, publishing outcomes); direct compliance (improvement and prohibition notices); and sanction non-compliance (infringement notices, suspending or cancelling authorisations, enforceable undertakings, and court action including injunctions and prosecutions). Which rung applies depends on the seriousness of the breach and the duty holder's conduct.
Inspectors have powerful on-the-spot tools to make a workplace safe.
Health and safety representatives can also issue a provisional improvement notice (PIN) after consulting the responsible person. It is an offence not to comply with a notice, and a regulator can seek a court injunction to compel compliance.
Offences are graded by how culpable the conduct was.
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Category 1 | The most serious: a duty holder, without reasonable excuse, exposes a person to a risk of death or serious injury or illness through gross negligence or recklessness. |
| Category 2 | Failure to comply with a health and safety duty that exposes a person to a risk of death or serious injury or illness. This is the most common prosecution category and does not require recklessness. |
| Category 3 | Failure to comply with a health and safety duty, without the regulator needing to prove the risk-exposure element. |
Some jurisdictions frame Category 1 slightly differently (for example, around conduct that caused death or serious harm). Industrial manslaughter sits above these as a separate offence — see our industrial manslaughter guide.
Severe, and indexed to inflation each year.
Under the model WHS Act, the maximum Category 1 penalty as at 1 July 2025 is around $11.8 million for a body corporate, about $2.37 million for an officer or PCBU individual, and about $1.18 million for any other individual, alongside imprisonment for individuals. Category 2 and Category 3 maximums are lower but still substantial six- and seven-figure amounts.
Figures are indicative and change. Maximum penalties are indexed annually and vary by jurisdiction — some have adopted higher amounts than the model, others differ. Always check the current penalty schedule for your jurisdiction with Safe Work Australia or your regulator.
Not every breach ends in court.
For some breaches, regulators can issue an infringement notice — an on-the-spot fine — as a faster, lower-level sanction. Alternatively, a duty holder can offer an enforceable undertaking: a legally binding agreement with the regulator to deliver specific safety improvements instead of being prosecuted. Importantly, an enforceable undertaking is generally not available for a Category 1 offence or for industrial manslaughter.
For serious matters, regulators prosecute — and courts have more than fines available.
Prosecutions are usually brought by the regulator (or, in some cases, an authorised inspector or the Director of Public Prosecutions). If no prosecution is brought within six months, a person can ask the regulator to begin one, generally up to twelve months after the incident. Beyond fines and imprisonment, courts can also impose orders such as adverse publicity orders, restoration orders, WHS project orders, training orders, and court-ordered undertakings.
The toolkit is very similar, because the HSWA shares the model WHS lineage.
WorkSafe New Zealand enforces the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 using comparable tools — improvement and prohibition notices, PINs from health and safety representatives, enforceable undertakings, and graded offences. For the New Zealand notices and penalty tiers, see our WorkSafe inspections guide and NZ compliance guide.
General information, not legal advice. If you receive a notice or are facing enforcement action, get advice from a qualified lawyer and confirm the current position with your WHS regulator.
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An improvement notice requires you to fix a contravention and its cause by a set date, while work can usually continue. A prohibition notice is issued where there is a serious risk from an immediate or imminent hazard, and it stops the activity until the risk is resolved.
Category 1 is the most serious — exposing someone to a risk of death or serious injury through gross negligence or recklessness. Category 2 is failing to comply with a duty in a way that exposes someone to such risk (the most common prosecution category). Category 3 is failing to comply with a duty, without needing to prove risk exposure.
They are severe and indexed annually. Under the model WHS Act, the maximum Category 1 penalty as at 1 July 2025 is around $11.8 million for a company, about $2.37 million for an officer or PCBU individual and about $1.18 million for other individuals, plus imprisonment. Amounts vary by jurisdiction, so check the current schedule.
It is a legally binding agreement between a duty holder and the regulator to deliver specific safety improvements instead of being prosecuted. It is generally not available for a Category 1 offence or industrial manslaughter.
Usually the regulator, and in some cases an authorised inspector or the Director of Public Prosecutions. If no prosecution is brought within six months of an incident, a person can request that the regulator begin one, generally up to twelve months after.
