Victoria’s new OHS regulations on psychosocial health

On 1 December 2025 a new positive duty will be on Victorian employers to proactively identify, manage and eliminate psychosocial hazards in their workplace. All Victorian employers should take steps to become familiar with the new obligation and ensure that they have the systems, processes, training and other interventions to discharge the duty.

The new duty is found in the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 (Regulations).

A breach of the duty may mean that an employer may be subject to the usual WorkSafe processes such as improvement notices, prohibition notices or even criminal prosecution.

The requirements under the Regulations build on the general obligations of employers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Act) to provide and maintain a safe working environment as far as reasonably practicable, and to consult with employees and health and safety representatives when reviewing any risk control.

What are psychosocial hazards

The Regulations define psychosocial hazard as any factor(s) in work design, systems of work management of work, carrying out of the 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 the employee’s health or safety.

The Regulations further define “psychological response” and say that a psychological response can be a cognitive, emotional and behaviour response and the physiological processes associated with them.  Negative psychological response can be stress, distress and feeling of burnt out. It should be noted that all individuals respond to psychosocial hazards differently.

The Regulations provide a list of examples and cast a wide net of what can be considered as “psychosocial hazards”. Other than the usual examples (e.g. aggression, violence, bullying, exposure to traumatic event and sexual harassment), psychosocial hazards can also be job demands being either too high or too low, low job control, low recognition and reward, low role clarity, poor environmental conditions, poor organisational change management, poor workplace relationship and remote or isolated work.

The Regulations signal a shifted regulatory focus on mental health as a workplace issue. In recent years, we have seen growing recognition of psychological injury as a work injury and emerging debates on employee wellbeing.

It appears that the issues with workplace culture and remote working can now present as psychosocial risks to employees. It is another reminder for employers and Human Resources (HR) to be aware and act proactively in cultivating a positive workplace culture and environment as part of their occupational health and safety obligations.

Legal obligations for employers and HR

The Regulations set out several general duties for employers, parallel to their obligations in the Act, including:

  • Duty to ensure that measure to control risk associated with psychosocial hazards is properly installed (if applicable), used and maintained.
  • Duty to consult with employees or health and safety representative.

The Regulations also set out specific duties for employers with regards to psychosocial hazards, including:

  • Duty to identify psychosocial hazards so far as reasonably practicable;
  • Duty to eliminate any risks associated with psychosocial hazards so far as reasonably practicable. This can be done by
    • altering the management of work, the plant, the system of work, the work design, or the workplace environment; or
    • using information, instruction or training as the control measures 
      (Note: use of information, instruction or training should not be used as the predominant measure and can only be exclusively relied where none of the control measures involving making alterations are reasonably practicable)
  • Duty to review and if necessary, revise the control measures in place to control risks associated with any psychosocial hazards. Review is necessary in the circumstances:
    • before any alteration is made to anything, process or system of work that is likely to result in changes to risks associated with psychosocial hazards; or
    • if new or additional information about a psychosocial hazard becomes available to the employer; or
    • if an employee, or a person on behalf of an employee, reports a psychosocial injury or a psychosocial hazard to the employer; or
    • after any incident occurs to which Part 5 of the Act applies that involves one or more psychosocial hazards; or
    • if, for any other reason, the risk control measures do not adequately control the risks associated with a psychosocial hazard; or
    • after receiving a request from a health and safety representative.
  • The limitation “reasonably practicable” defines the extent of duty of an employer. It is not an absolute duty. What is reasonably practicable should be decided objectively and based on the standard of behaviour expected of a reasonable person. In working out what measures are reasonably practicable, employers must also have regard to the likelihood of a hazard or risk occurring, the degree of harm the hazard could cause, what the person reasonably should know, the availability and suitability of the measure, and the costs of the measure.

Consultation

Under the Act an employer must so far as is reasonably practicable consult with affected workers when:

      • identifying or assessing hazards (which would include psychosocial hazards);
      • making decisions about measures to be taken to control risks, adequacy of facilities for welfare, procedures for resolving health and safety issues, consulting with employees, monitoring the health of employees and conditions, and providing information and training;
      • determining the membership of any health and safety committee; and
      • proposing changes that may affect the health and safety of employees.

Regular team meetings where employees are encouraged to raise health and safety concerns, a locked suggestion box in the staff room and regular surveys on health and safety issues may all assist in the discharge of an employer’s obligation to consult.

Consequences of non-compliance

Any breaches of the obligations under the Regulations is an offence and if proven, can result in criminal penalties.

Recently in New South Wales, SafeWork NSW had issued a prohibition notice to the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in relation to serious and imminent risks of psychological harm employees would be exposed to by UTS’ redundancy process. While this occurs in a different jurisdiction, it signals the shifted regulatory focus on psychosocial hazards, including in typically white-collar workspaces. Employers must ensure that they will now take a proactive approach in relation to psychosocial hazards, in all aspects of workplace relations and employment management.

Practical strategies for managing psychosocial risks

Identification of psychosocial hazards

Psychosocial hazards can present differently depending on the workplace, or even within the workplace between groups of employees. In the process of identifying psychosocial hazards, employers should consider the organisational context, types of work and external factors on the employees’ working environment.

In most circumstances, psychosocial hazards do not occur in isolation. Employees are likely exposed to a combination of hazards - and these hazards may not be immediately obvious as they occur.

Collecting and reviewing relevant information such as organisational or operational information can often assist with the identification of psychosocial hazards. This information should be reviewed bearing in mind the likely indicators or sources of psychosocial hazards, such as patterns of absenteeism, changes in employee engagement or work productivity, and the number of reported incidents and near misses. Psychosocial hazards can also be identified by observing how employees work and interact with each other, and assessing job-specific requirements.

Eliminating and reducing the risks

A Compliance Code has been developed by WorkSafe to assist employers in complying with their obligations under the Regulations. Compliance with the Code is not mandatory but a duty holder that complies with the Code will be taken to have complied with their obligations under the Regulations.

The Code lists an array of control measures that can be implemented in altering management of work, plant, systems of work, work design and workplace environment. These are often considered to be more effective in reducing risks at the workplace than merely using information, instruction or training. Often it will be necessary to use a combination of risk control measures to effectively control the risks.

When providing information, instructions or trainings as a control measure, employers should do so in the appropriate format, ensure that they are provided by a suitably qualified person, and ensure that they are practical and engaging. Training should also be provided on an ongoing basis.

It is important that risks are viewed holistically and not confined to only a single employee or an isolated situation. A risk associated with psychosocial hazard can affect one employee, or sometimes a group of employees. When employers consider risks exposed to one employee, they should take a broader review and also consider if other employees are similarly affected.

Review of risks

The purpose of the review is to assess whether the measures implemented are effectively controlling the risk. The review should be conducted by personnel who:

      • have the authority and resources to conduct the review thoroughly; and
      • have the power to recommend changes.

The depth and extent of the review will be case dependent. An in-depth review may be warranted for complex situations, whereby a brief analysis may be sufficient in some cases.

Employers need to remember that the review should not be a one-off exercise. The Regulations require employers to proactively engage in reviews when warranted and on an ongoing basis.

How to embed compliance into your culture and process

Reporting system

A reporting system should be established for employees to report psychosocial hazards or incidents. If the organisation already has in-place a reporting system for physical hazards, the system should be adjusted to account for reports of psychological hazards. This may include adjustments for protected and confidential reports.

There are ways that an employee can make a report of workplace issues formally and informally. For example, an employee can make a report by contacting their supervisor or HR department, raising issues with the health and safety representative, or submitting formal complaints internally or externally. It is important for all personnel to receive training and information so they can identify psychosocial hazards when reported. It is also important that reports submitted in all revenues recognise psychosocial hazards if present and are documented accordingly in the organisation’s psychosocial risk register.

Record-keeping

Employers, especially dedicated workplace and health safety departments and HR departments, should engage in the good practice of record keeping. With regards to employers’ obligations under the Regulations, record keeping will help with monitoring of hazards, risks, assessing the effectiveness of control and any further review or revise of risk controls.

Employers should keep records of:

      • Induction and training provided to and completed by employees and independent contractors;
      • The organisation’s risk management process;
      • Any records for consultation related to psychosocial hazards at the workplace;
      • Any reviews being conducted and their outcomes.

There are various methods for employers to record their risk management process and outcomes, either via an established prevention plan template available at the WorkSafe website, or via internal record keeping systems. The internal record keeping system should document an organisational risk register and meeting minutes with occupational health and safety committee, leadership, governance group or team meetings.

Leadership commitment

Last but not least, effective management of occupational health and safety hazards require leadership commitment to prioritise a workplace safety culture. This requires commitment to actively review the risk registers and assess effectiveness of risk controls, taking clear accountabilities in the risk management process, responding to any safety concerns in a timely manner and conducting consultations with employees at all levels in identifying and managing the safety hazards.

Leadership commitment plays an important role in shaping the office culture. It is crucial that leaders or executives within the organisation can act as role model, cultivate positive working relationships and create an environment where employees feel safe and confident to raise concerns as they arise.

Upcoming webinar: Navigating Victoria’s new workplace psychosocial regulations 

12 November 2025 at 1:00pm AEDT

Join us for a practical, forward-looking webinar hosted by our leading employment team, designed specifically for HR professionals navigating this evolving landscape. We’ll unpack what’s changing, what it means for your workplace, and how to proactively support your people while staying compliant.This session will go beyond the legal detail to equip you with the tools to lead confidently, support your teams, and position your organisation as a psychologically safe workplace.

Find out more and RSVP here.

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