National Safe Work Month 2026

2025 at a glance

Safe Work Australia updates its WHS prosecutions dashboard each year, drawing on public reports of criminal prosecutions under WHS laws across every Australian jurisdiction since 1 January 2020. The 2025 figures were released in September 2026, and the three headline numbers below are the ones Safe Work Australia announced.

• 308 WHS prosecutions in 2025, down from 321 in 2024.
• $147,985 average financial penalty per prosecution, up 33% on 2024 and the highest annual average recorded.
• 99% of prosecutions resulted in a financial penalty.

The fall in prosecutions is the first after four consecutive years of increases, which on its own reads as good news. The penalty figures tell a different story, because the average financial penalty is now the highest annual average recorded.

Chart: Most common industry divisions among defendants in 2025

• Construction: 43%
• Manufacturing: 20%
• Mining: 6%
• All other industries (calculated): 31%

The mix has shifted since last year. In the 2024 data the top three industries were construction, manufacturing, and transport, postal and warehousing. In 2025, mining has taken third place.

Note: Each defendant is recorded separately in the data, so a single incident can appear more than once. Safe Work Australia compiles the figures from publicly available information on regulators' websites.

Year-by-year trends

A small drop in case numbers says very little about your own exposure. The year-by-year figures on Safe Work Australia's dashboard show where enforcement has been heading since 2020. All figures in this section and the next are read from the dashboard as at 6 October 2026.

Prosecution volumes

Trend: Number of prosecutions per year

• 2020: 203
• 2021: 273
• 2022: 285
• 2023: 309
• 2024: 321
• 2025: 308

Prosecutions rose every year from 203 in 2020 to 321 in 2024, an increase of 58%. The 2025 figure is 4% lower than the peak, and it is still the third highest year in the data.

Total penalties

Trend: Total financial penalty per year

• 2020: $26.67M
• 2021: $27.77M
• 2022: $32.29M
• 2023: $40.34M
• 2024: $34.95M
• 2025: $44.99M

The total financial penalty for 2025 was $44.99 million. That is the highest annual total in the data and 29% more than in 2024, from 13 fewer prosecutions.

Average penalty

Trend: Average financial penalty per year

• 2020: $136.76K
• 2021: $104.02K
• 2022: $117.86K
• 2023: $134.9K
• 2024: $111.65K
• 2025: $146.54K

Note: The dashboard currently shows a 2025 average of $146.54K, slightly below the $147,985 that Safe Work Australia announced in September 2026 and that is quoted at the top of this article. On the dashboard figures, the 2025 average is about 31% higher than in 2024.

The average has moved up and down from year to year, with dips in 2021 and 2024. The 2025 figure is the first to pass the previous high set in 2020.

Almost every prosecution recorded also results in a financial penalty. Safe Work Australia reported the share as 97% in 2023, 98% in 2024 and 99% in 2025. The dashboard only records prosecutions that resulted in a finding of guilt, so the figure shows that a guilty outcome almost always comes with a financial penalty.

Fatal injury level

Trend: Number of prosecutions where the highest injury level was fatal

• 2020: 42
• 2021: 50
• 2022: 46
• 2023: 46
• 2024: 50
• 2025: 53

In 2025, 53 prosecutions were recorded with a highest injury level of fatal, the most in any year of the data. Prosecutions with a highest injury level of none have also grown, from 17% of the total in 2020 to 26% in 2025, after reaching about 30% in 2023 and 2024.

Note: These figures count prosecutions, not deaths. Each defendant is recorded separately, so one incident can appear more than once, and Safe Work Australia says the data should not be relied on to count the worker deaths or injuries prosecuted each year.

Info: Construction and manufacturing have remained the most common industry divisions among defendants since data collection began in 2020. If you operate in either sector, regulators already know where to look.

Six-year view

Combined, the six years of data say a lot about who is prosecuted and why.

• 1,699 prosecutions recorded from 2020 to 2025.
• $207M total financial penalty.
• $125K average financial penalty from 2020 to 2025.

Highest injury level

Chart: Number of prosecutions by highest injury level, 2020 to 2025

• Serious: 856
• None: 426
• Fatal: 287
• Unknown: 76
• Minor: 54

One in four of these prosecutions recorded a highest injury level of none. Safe Work Australia uses that label where there was no injury or other direct impact on a worker, for example where an inspection identified a failure but no injury was caused. A further 287 prosecutions, about 17% of the total, recorded a highest injury level of fatal.

Info: As a guide, Safe Work Australia treats an injury as serious where, for example, it requires hospitalisation for more than a day or results in a fracture of a major bone. Half of all recorded prosecutions had a highest injury level of serious.

Plea

Chart: Number of prosecutions by plea, 2020 to 2025

• Guilty: 80.8%
• Unknown: 17.2%
• Not guilty (calculated): 2.1%

Four in five defendants pleaded guilty. The recorded share of guilty pleas has fallen from 93% in 2020 to 72% in 2025, but that mostly reflects more pleas being recorded as unknown, which rose from 4% to 27% over the same period. Not guilty pleas have stayed in single figures every year.

Category of main offence

Chart: Number of prosecutions by category of main offence, 2020 to 2025

• Category 1: recklessly expose a person to risk of death or serious injury/illness: 39
• Category 2: fail to comply exposes a person to risk of death or serious injury/illness: 730
• Category 3: fail to comply: 52
• Not applicable: 871
• Unknown: 7

Very few offences sat at the most serious level. Only 39 prosecutions were Category 1 offences, where a duty holder recklessly or with gross negligence exposes a person to a risk of death or serious injury or illness. Ten of those were in 2025, the most in any year and double the number in 2024.

Where a category is recorded, about 95% of prosecutions were Category 2 or Category 3 offences, which involve a failure to comply with a health and safety duty, and Category 1 offences made up about 5%. Another 871 prosecutions are recorded as not applicable, which Safe Work Australia uses for jurisdictions that had not implemented the model WHS laws in the year of prosecution.

Industry of defendant

Construction has recorded the most prosecutions in every year of the data, with manufacturing second each time. Across the full six years, the dashboard lists transport, postal and warehousing third, ahead of electricity, gas, water and waste services and then agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Note: The dashboard only records prosecutions that resulted in a finding of guilt, and it relies on what each regulator publishes. Safe Work Australia cautions that the data is limited by what is publicly available and should not be relied on for research or other purposes.

Limits of the data

The figures in this article are totals across all WHS offences, and they are not split by the type of hazard involved. The industries that dominate the 2025 numbers are also the traditional settings for physical injury, so it would be a mistake to read the data as proof that psychosocial enforcement is either surging or absent.

What the numbers do show is the direction of enforcement, with a financial penalty in almost every case and a record average in 2025.

Psychosocial risk outlook

The link to psychosocial risk comes from timing. Codes of practice have been legally binding in NSW since 1 July 2026, including the Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice, so employers are now expected to show how they identify, assess, control and review psychosocial hazards on an ongoing basis.

At the same time, a tool many organisations leaned on has been switched off. People at Work, the free psychosocial risk assessment survey funded by Australian WHS regulators and used by more than 160,000 workers since 2020, closed to users on 2 October 2026.

Note: An organisation-wide survey score was never the whole picture. Psychosocial pressure tends to build in particular teams and under particular leaders, so the evidence that counts shows where a hazard sits and what was done about it.

Implications for officers and boards

Under WHS laws, officers have a personal duty to exercise due diligence. That duty is about more than receiving reports. It asks officers to understand the risks in their business and to verify that the controls for those risks are being used.

That distinction is important in a prosecution. A documented procedure shows what was meant to happen, while the evidence a court looks for is what happened on the day.

An average penalty of $147,985 that grew by about a third in a single year is also an enterprise risk. That puts WHS in front of the board and the audit committee, and it can no longer sit only with the people and culture team.

Questions worth asking at your next leadership meeting include:

• Which of our risks could kill or seriously injure someone, and who owns each one?
• When did we last check that the controls for those risks were working on site, and not only written down?
• Do our board or executive reports show control effectiveness, or only incident counts?
• How do concerns raised by workers and contractors reach the people who can act on them?
• Can we name our psychosocial hazards in the terms the Code uses, such as high job demands and low job control?
• Do we know which teams those hazards are concentrated in, beyond the organisation-wide average?
• Could we show a regulator a record of identifying, controlling and reviewing each one?

Tip: SafeWork NSW has published a free officer due diligence self-assessment tool. It is a quick way to see which records a regulator would expect your leadership team to produce.

Recommended next step

October is National Safe Work Month, which makes it a natural time to put this data in front of your leadership team. Pick one critical risk, trace it from the risk register to the worksite, and see whether the control you rely on is in place and understood by the people doing the work.

That single exercise will tell you more about your due diligence position than a year of lagging indicators.

How Actevate can help

Actevate helps organisations manage risk across the entire employee lifecycle, from pre-employment through to injury management and return to work. If the data has raised questions about your own systems, call 1300 663 155 or get in touch.

Sources

• Safe Work Australia, WHS prosecutions dashboard, viewed 6 October 2026
• Safe Work Australia, Work health and safety prosecutions: new data now available
• Safe Work Australia, National Work Health and Safety Prosecutions Repository Data Dictionary, June 2025
• NSW Government, Minns Labor Government launches Psychosocial Advisory Service, 22 September 2026 (codes of practice legally binding from 1 July 2026)
• SafeWork NSW, officer due diligence self-assessment tool
• SafeWork SA, People at Work survey decommissioned
• HRD Australia, Psychosocial risk tool axed

Disclaimer

This article is general information only and does not constitute legal or health and safety advice. The data is sourced from Safe Work Australia's WHS prosecutions dashboard and related publications, as available on 6 October 2026. Safe Work Australia revises the data each year, so figures may change after publication. Percentages marked as calculated, year-on-year comparisons and the charts are Actevate's own analysis and presentation of that data. Safe Work Australia has not reviewed or endorsed this article. Please refer to the original sources before relying on any figure.

What is a commutation?

A commutation is an agreement between a worker and an insurer. The worker receives a lump sum payment, and in return certain ongoing workers compensation entitlements are settled.

Commutations have long existed in NSW, but the eligibility rules were narrow. The recent reforms open the door wider for a limited period.

Note: Once a commutation is approved and paid, the worker is no longer entitled to workers compensation benefits for that injury. It is a significant decision, which is why the process has several safeguards built in.

What has changed

The Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Regulation 2026 temporarily expands access to commutations to three additional classes of cases. Each class has its own eligibility requirements, set out in Part 9A of the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016.

A few points apply across the board:

• The worker and the insurer must agree on the worker's degree of permanent impairment before a commutation can proceed.
• Commutation is voluntary. A worker elects to pursue it, and can withdraw at any time before approval.
• An agreement only takes effect once it is approved by the President of the Personal Injury Commission.
• The existing commutation pathways remain available where their preconditions are met.

Info: Whether a particular claim falls within Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3 is a question for the insurer or the worker's legal adviser. SIRA recommends workers confirm this before submitting an Expression of Interest.

The key dates and timeframes

• Worker submits an Expression of Interest: by 1 April 2028
• Employer forwards an Expression of Interest to the insurer: within 3 business days
• Insurer acknowledges the Expression of Interest: within 10 business days of receiving it
• Application for approval lodged with the Personal Injury Commission: by 1 April 2029

How the process works

1. Expression of Interest. The worker completes the approved SIRA form and gives it to the insurer or to the employer.
2. Independent legal advice. Before entering an agreement, the worker must get independent legal advice about its full legal effect.
3. Independent financial advice. For Class 1 and Class 2 claims, financial advice is mandatory when the proposed amount exceeds $100,000. The insurer pays up to $2,500 towards the cost.
4. Commutation agreement. If the worker and insurer agree, they complete the approved SIRA agreement form.
5. Approval. The agreement goes to the Personal Injury Commission, and only takes effect if the President approves it.

Note: The financial advice requirements do not apply to Class 3 claims, which relate to hearing loss.

What employers need to do

The step most likely to catch an employer out is the simplest one. A worker is allowed to hand their Expression of Interest to you instead of the insurer, and when that happens you have three business days to pass it on.

These steps will help you prepare:

• Decide who in your business receives these forms, and make sure that person knows about the three-day deadline.
• Brief your return to work coordinator and anyone who manages injured workers, so a form is recognised when it arrives.
• Ask your insurer or claims service provider which of your open claims may fall within the new classes.
• Keep your own advice neutral. The decision belongs to the worker, who must get independent legal advice before agreeing to anything.

Tip: Long-running claims carry a real cost in premiums and in management time. A review of your open NSW claims with your insurer will show you where the expanded pathway could be relevant, well before the 2028 deadline starts to bite.

How Actevate can help

Actevate supports employers with injury management and workers compensation claims, including reviewing open claims and the factors driving your premium. If you would like help working out what the commutation changes mean for your claims, call 1300 663 155 or get in touch.

Sources

• SIRA, Workers Guidance: Expanded Access to Commutations
• SIRA, Workers Compensation Scheme changes commencing 1 October 2026

This article summarises SIRA guidance current as at October 2026. It is general information only and does not constitute legal advice.

What has changed

Treatment and services must now be "reasonable and necessary" for their costs to be compensable. The requirement applies to:

• Medical and related treatment
• Hospital treatment
• Ambulance services
• Workplace rehabilitation services

According to SIRA's guidance for employers, treatment must now primarily treat the compensable injury, be clinically justified and represent value for money. SIRA says the change is designed to improve consistency in decisions about evidence-based treatment and support.

Info: New rules in Part 4A of the Workers Compensation Regulation 2016 set out how insurers must decide whether a treatment or service is reasonable and necessary. The Workers Compensation Guidelines were also revised from 1 October 2026 to reflect the new requirement.

A subtle change in wording with widespread impact

Under the old wording, "reasonably" qualified "necessary". The new wording sets out two separate requirements, and a treatment request has to meet both of these buckets.

In practice, that gives insurers a firmer basis to ask for clinical justification before approving a request. Treatment that would once have been waved through may now attract questions about how it relates to the work injury and what outcome it is expected to deliver.

Which claims the new requirement applies to

The new requirement applies to treatment or service claims made on or after 1 October 2026. Requests made before that date continue to be assessed under the old "reasonably necessary" wording in certain circumstances, including where treatment was approved before 1 October but has not yet been completed.

Note: The date that matters is when the treatment request was made, and not the date of the injury. A worker with a long-standing claim who asks for new treatment today will have that request assessed under the new requirement.

The change applies to all workers, including exempt workers such as police officers, paramedics and firefighters.

What is now excluded

SIRA's guidance says some treatments and services are expressly excluded from employer liability. These include certain alternative therapies, wellness services and unprescribed massage. Some general health or recreational activities are also excluded unless they are prescribed by a medical practitioner.

What this means for your injured workers

A worker who has been receiving a particular treatment may find that a new request for it is questioned. That can be unsettling, particularly for someone who is already anxious about their recovery.

How the change is explained makes a real difference. A worker who hears about it early from a manager they trust is far less likely to experience a request for more information as a rejection.

Tip: Uncertainty about treatment is one of the more common reasons a claim stalls. A short, early conversation that explains the new requirement and the likely next steps helps keep recovery and return to work on track.

What this means for employers

For most employers, the change will be felt in timing and communication more than in policy. Insurers now have a firmer basis to ask for clinical justification, so approvals may take longer, and return to work coordinators and line managers are likely to field more questions from injured workers. Where treatment is on hold, recovery timeframes and suitable duties plans may need to be revisited. Employers who are well placed for the change tend to have people leaders who understand the new requirement and injured workers who have heard early what to expect. They also keep a close working relationship with their insurer or claims service provider, so a delayed or declined request is followed up, and their return to work program and injury management procedures reflect the current wording.

How Actevate can help

Actevate works alongside employers on injury management and return to work, helping injured workers get the right support early and keeping claims moving. Our return to work consultants can help you explain these changes to your team and review how your claims are managed. Call 1300 663 155 or get in touch.

Sources

• SIRA, Workers Compensation Scheme changes commencing 1 October 2026
• SIRA, Key changes for employers
• SIRA, Reasonable and necessary reforms: guidance for insurers

This article summarises SIRA guidance current as at October 2026. It is general information only and does not constitute legal advice.