Safe Work Australia has announced changes to the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act and Regulations, after receiving approval from WHS ministers. These are effective from 5 December 2025 and include changes to Notification Obligations, Crane Licensing Amendments and Miscellaneous Amendments.
So, what does that mean for employers? Let’s break it down:
Notification Obligations
According to the updated WHS Act, the obligations for notification have been expanded to cover:
- Dangerous incidents involving mobile plant and falls
- Violent incidents, including sexual assault
- Work-related suicide and attempted suicide, and
- Extended worker absences (15+ calendar days)
Safe Work Australia reminds workplaces that any changes to incident notification requirements will not be enforced unless they are adopted within their jurisdiction.
It is recommended that employers consult their local WHS regulator prior to making changes to their notification systems or reporting processes.
Why have the notification requirements changed?
These obligations have been updated to address gaps and clarify when incidents must be reported. Previous requirements did not consistently capture serious incidents, particularly those involving psychosocial hazards and psychological harm, such as workplace violence, sexual assault, suicide and attempted suicide. The amendments ensure regulators have better visibility of serious incidents and that WHS laws reflect the full range of physical and psychological risks in modern workplaces.
What must be notified to the WHS regulator?
You must notify the WHS regulator about:
- A death, serious injury or illness, a dangerous incident, or a violent incident (notifiable incident).
- A worker being absent from work for 15 or more days because of a work-related injury or illness (notifiable extended absence).
- A work-related suicide or attempted suicide (notifiable suicide or attempted suicide)
What to do when a notifiable incident, extended absence or suicide occurs
- Prioritise health and safety
- Notify the WHS regulator immediately by phone, email or online form
- Report a notifiable incident, notifiable suicide or attempted suicide immediately after becoming aware it has happened, by the fastest possible means.
- Report a notifiable extended absence to the WHS regulator within 14 days of becoming aware of the extended absence.
- Notify other duty holders
- Preserve the site and evidence
- Coordinate with other authorities
- Support affected persons
- Keep records
Crane Licensing Amendments
The model WHS Regulations for high-risk work licences have been updated to remove encompassment provisions from mobile crane licences and introduce a prerequisite dogging qualification for most crane licence classes.
The amendments:
- Specify that a slewing mobile crane licence does not permit the holder to operate a vehicle loading crane with a capacity of 10 metre tonnes or more, a non-slewing mobile crane with a capacity exceeding 3 tonnes, or a reach stacker.
- Ensure that all high-risk work crane licence holders (excluding bridge and gantry and vehicle loading crane licence holders) have completed the relevant dogging VET course.
Why the change, and what exactly does it mean?
Safe Work Australia’s 2022 review of crane and dogging competencies found that some crane licences were too broad and did not adequately account for the different skills required to operate different classes of cranes. This created unnecessary safety risks.
The review identified that competencies gained through the VET course for slewing mobile cranes are not directly transferable to non-slewing mobile cranes, vehicle loading cranes or reach stackers. It also found that dogging tasks are commonly required during crane operations, yet crane licence training often provides insufficient dogging instruction.
As a result, licence holders must now check which specific crane types they are authorised to operate. The Licence to Perform Dogging VET course is now a mandatory prerequisite for all high-risk crane licences, strengthening safety outcomes across crane operations.
Miscellaneous Amendments
Additional updates to the model WHS Regulations have been made to make minor, technical, and other clarifying amendments, including to:
- Clarify personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements (regulation 44)
- Reduce the automatic refusal timeframe for high-risk licence applications from 120 to 60 days (regulation 89), and
- Streamline compliance and enforcement for asbestos sample analysis (regulations 423 and 479), and
- Remove duplication
A fact sheet and downloadable handbook on the above topics have been published on the Safe Work Australia website.
Before acting on these changes, reach out to Safe Industries Australia to make sure your farm is covered correctly.
