On 5 December 2025 Safe Work Australia released amendments to the national model Work Health and Safety Act (Model WHS Act). This includes major changes relating to the incident notification requirements.
Key amendments include expanding the incident notification obligations for PCBUs by introducing new notification duties for extended absences, violent incidents and work-related suicide and attempted suicide.
The Notifiable Incidents, Extended Absences and Suicides Handbook is available on the Safe Work Australia website.
Take Out Point: The amendments are not operative until adopted by each State or Territory (or in the case of Victoria, its WHS laws are amended). If you’re a PCBU, stay across these changes – they signal the direction workplace notification obligations are heading.
See: Notifiable Incidents, Extended Absences and Suicides Handbook