SafeWork NSW – Now an Independent Regulator

Effective 1 July 2025, SafeWork NSW transitioned into an independent statutory regulator under the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Act 2025. This reform enhances its authority and operational independence in delivering workplace safety across New South Wales.

Previously embedded within the Department of Customer Service, SafeWork NSW now operates as a separate executive agency, empowered to set policy, enforce compliance, and drive best practice standards. This change follows findings from a 2023 independent review led by the Hon Robert McDougall KC, which identified shortcomings in responsiveness and autonomy under the former structure.

In response, the Minns Labor Government enacted legislation aimed at strengthening regulatory enforcement and restoring public confidence.

In the same month, SafeWork NSW have also released a statement focusing on its regulatory approach and priorities for 2025 – 2026, where a drive for change and improvement will be a clear priority.  

Structural Reforms and Leadership

A key feature of the restructure is the appointment of Janet Schorer as the inaugural SafeWork NSW Commissioner. With over 27 years of public sector experience, Commissioner Schorer will drive efforts to improve policy, compliance frameworks, and stakeholder engagement including direct consultation with workers, unions, businesses, and the Family and Injured Workers Support and Advisory Group.

Additionally, a new SafeWork Advisory Council has been established, comprising 8 to 12 members appointed by the Minister. This Council will advise the Commissioner on strategic direction, regulatory priorities, and emerging WHS risks, while representing diverse stakeholder perspectives including employer organisations, unions, WHS experts, and individuals with lived experience of workplace injury or fatality.

Regulatory Priorities

SafeWork NSW have released its Annual Regulatory Statement, outlining their key areas of focus for the next year as:

• strengthen enforcement of work health and safety laws, targeting large and high risk workplaces that are not providing safe systems of work;
• continue to target larger and well-resourced organisations with swift and strong regulatory action until satisfactory work health and safety improvements are made and sustained;
• maintain tight supervision of workplaces with dust exposure risks for workers; and
• enforce compliance, with the duty of a business to consult workers on physical and psychosocial risks and actions to manage them.

Further, SafeWork NSW have outlined several priorities for focus including:

• Falls from heights;
• Harms to workers in the health care and social assistance sector;
• Managing psychosocial risks at work including sexual harassment;
• Exposure to hazardous substances including asbestos, crystalline silica and welding fumes; and
• Injury from mobile plant, vehicles or fixed machinery.

Anticipated Impact

The Minister for Work Health and Safety, Sophie Cotsis, states that the new framework ensures SafeWork NSW will become a “strong, robust, and fit-for-purpose regulator capable of effectively securing safer and healthier workplaces in NSW.”

Overall, there are several key impacts that these reforms will have on the industry as a whole. 

For businesses, the reforms coupled with the targeted focuses will lead to increased inspections, lower tolerance for non-compliance, and more agile enforcement responses including prosecution. Now more than ever, businesses should ensure that they are compliant with regulatory standards, particularly in the areas of priority, with a particular focus being seen in relation to psychosocial risks.

In relation to workers and the workforce more broadly, the reforms mean that there are improved enforcement of safety standards, clearer reporting pathways, and enhanced support for psychosocial risks. In addition, the regulator must now actively engage with affected individuals and families during serious incident investigations.

Consequently, insurers may see a rise in WHS-related claims, particularly as businesses face greater enforcement activity resulting in an increase of improvement notices, prohibition orders, and prosecutions. This regulatory shift may drive more frequent triggering of legal defence clauses within insurance policies, as policyholders seek coverage for mounting legal costs associated with alleged breaches of WHS regulation. Further, directors and officers will also be exposed to new allegations of failing due diligence duties and potentially seeking cover under their respective management liability policies, which will in turn, increase insurers’ exposure prompting careful scrutiny of coverage terms.