Safe Work Australia’s first national review of the model WHS laws since 2018 makes 21 recommendations. For builders, the ones that matter most cover Codes that would count as compliance, how a construction project is defined, and who can take a business to court.
Safe Work Australia has published its Best Practice Review of the model work health and safety laws, the first national review since 2018, and construction runs right through it. The 21 recommendations now sit with WHS ministers, and several would change how compliance works on a building site.
The timing is grim. Safe Work Australia says 222 workers died from traumatic injuries at work in 2025, the highest annual number since 2012. The Review itself draws on data to 2024, when 188 workers died. Construction accounted for 37 of those deaths, or 20%, behind only transport, postal and warehousing (54) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (44).
What is the Best Practice Review of the model WHS laws?
WHS ministers asked Safe Work Australia in September 2024 to test whether the model laws still work as a national system, and whether any state or territory variations deserve national adoption. Formal consultation ran from 1 September 2025 to 31 March 2026, with written submissions, three online surveys and more than 100 meetings with workers, families of workers killed on the job, businesses, unions, regulators, prosecutors and judges.
The central finding is that support for harmonised laws remains strong, but the system is fraying at the edges. Variations keep being enacted across jurisdictions, Victoria still sits outside the model framework, and the Review heard that inconsistent enforcement between regulators remains a concern. It recommends ministers formally recommit to harmonisation and that a new National Compliance and Enforcement Policy be written from scratch.
Why are workplace deaths back at the centre of national policy?
Since 2014, the fatality rate has fallen 24%, from 1.7 to 1.3 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2024. The Review says that progress has stalled in recent years, measured against a national strategy target of cutting traumatic injury fatalities by at least 30% over the decade to 2033.
Safe Work Australia Members have agreed to act on some items immediately, without waiting for ministers. These include a new Strategic Issues Group on reducing work related fatalities, starting with the industries that record the most deaths each year, construction among them. Safe Work Australia will also set up arrangements with coroners’ courts so findings are shared quickly, with coronial recommendations to be considered by the group within six months.
The Review also suggests a shared pool of specialist fatality investigators that jurisdictions could draw on, with construction proposed as the pilot industry.
How would Codes of Practice change for builders?
This is where the Review carries the most practical weight for our community. Model Codes are currently adopted, and often varied, by each jurisdiction. The Review recommends three changes.
The first would adopt Victoria’s approach of deemed compliance. A person who complies with a Code would be taken to have complied with the relevant duty on the matters that Code covers. The Review describes this as a response to the long running call, particularly from small business, to be told what to do. Codes would not become mandatory.
The second calls for industry based Codes, each with a small business toolkit, with construction one of four sectors prioritised alongside retail, education and training, and agriculture. Master Builders Australia told the Review that the sheer number of hazard based Codes makes it hard to work out how they apply in a specific industry. The Review’s answer is blunt: for many smaller businesses, an industry Code may be the only Code they ever need to read.
The third would turn model Codes into National Codes that apply automatically in model law jurisdictions once agreed by WHS ministers, ending the situation where the same Code exists in a different version in each state.
For many smaller businesses, an industry Code may be the only Code they ever need to read.
What is deemed compliance?
Under the approach the Review recommends, a person who complies with an approved Code of Practice is taken to have complied with the relevant WHS duty for the matters that Code addresses. The Code itself is not mandatory. A duty holder can still meet the duty another way, but then carries the onus of showing it has done so.
What changes are proposed for construction projects and white cards?
Under the model WHS Regulations, a construction project is defined by value. Jobs over $250,000 trigger a range of extra regulatory requirements. South Australia and the Northern Territory use different dollar thresholds, and Western Australia defines a major construction project by headcount instead, where five or more people are, or are likely to be, working at the same time.
The Review recommends the model regulations adopt the WA approach. Its reasoning is that a headcount test stays consistent over time, rather than letting inflation and regional building costs decide which rules apply.
On our reading, this is the recommendation residential builders will want to follow most closely. A headcount test could change which jobs fall inside the construction project rules, including smaller value jobs where five or more people are on site together.
The Review also recommends digital authorisation options for white cards, noting NSW digitised its white card licences in May 2025.
Who could prosecute a business under the proposed changes?
The model Act removes the general common law right to bring a private prosecution for WHS offences. The Review recommends general standing for any person or organisation to prosecute, drawing on NSW and New Zealand approaches, with a review three years after it starts.
The Review notes unions held this right in NSW and the ACT before the model laws, and argues that the cost of running a prosecution and the courts themselves guard against frivolous cases. Australian Industry Group and WorkSafe WA argued the decision to prosecute should stay with statutory agencies acting in the public interest, and industry submissions raised concern about cases being brought over minor breaches.
A second change targets insurance. Since the 2018 review, the model Act has banned insurance for WHS fines, but not for the legal costs of defending a prosecution. The Review notes penalties are sometimes small compared with legal fees, and recommends insurance or indemnity for legal costs in a WHS prosecution also be prohibited.
What does the Review say about heat, toilets and small business?
The Review recommends new model regulations covering extreme heat, air quality and vector borne diseases. Current laws rely on general duties, which the International Labour Organization has found inadequate for a warming climate. The Review names construction among the outdoor industries that would particularly benefit from heat guidance in industry Codes.
On amenities, Queensland already requires designated female toilets on construction sites. The Review wants new rules across all workplaces requiring facilities in sufficient number and location, and adequate time for workers to use them.
For small operators, it recommends a WHS Information Statement of no more than two pages, modelled on the Fair Work Information Statement, given to every worker when they start, plus a separate version written for small business owners. The Review also welcomed the Australian Government’s May 2026 announcement that all mandatory Australian Standards will be made free, including across construction.
What happens next?
None of this is law yet. The recommendations go to WHS ministers, and any agreed changes to the model laws only take effect once each jurisdiction passes them through its own parliament. Victoria, which never adopted the model laws, sits outside that process.
Safe Work Australia chief executive Marie Boland has said that laws alone are not enough, and that consistent regulation, enforcement and national cooperation are what will reduce fatalities. An annual scorecard of state and territory variations, one of the actions Safe Work Australia is starting now, will show how seriously each jurisdiction takes that message.
For builders, the measure of this Review will be whether a plain English construction Code that counts as compliance actually reaches the site. With 222 workers killed last year, the cost of leaving these recommendations on the ministerial table is not abstract.
The Good Builder Take
Most of these 21 recommendations will be fought out at the ministerial table, not on site. Three will land on residential builders: a dedicated construction Code, deemed compliance, and a headcount definition of a construction project.
A single plain English Code that counts as compliance in every model law state is what small builders have been asking for. The headcount test cuts the other way, and could bring more small jobs under project rules. Both are worth watching closely as the construction Code is developed.
Frequently asked questions
It is Safe Work Australia’s review of the national model work health and safety laws, published in October 2026. It is the first national review since 2018 and makes 21 recommendations to WHS ministers on keeping the laws consistent across jurisdictions and dealing with new and persistent risks.
No. The recommendations go to WHS ministers. Any agreed changes to the model laws take effect only when each jurisdiction passes them through its own parliament. Victoria has not adopted the model laws. Some Safe Work Australia actions, such as a new group focused on reducing fatalities, are starting immediately.
The Review recommends that a person who complies with a Code is taken to have complied with the relevant WHS duty for the matters the Code covers. Codes would not be mandatory, and duty holders could still comply another way. The approach is modelled on Victoria.
The model regulations currently define a construction project as one valued at more than $250,000. The Review recommends adopting Western Australia’s approach, which defines a major construction project as one where five or more people are, or are likely to be, working at the same time.
Safe Work Australia says 222 workers died from traumatic injuries at work in 2025, the highest annual number since 2012. In 2024, 188 workers died, 37 of them in construction.
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- National Safe Work Month opens on the long term cost of harm
Last updated 19 October 2026. Figures from Safe Work Australia’s Best Practice Review Final Report (October 2026) and Safe Work Australia’s 2025 fatality figures.
General information only. This article is general information and does not constitute legal, financial or work health and safety advice. It does not take into account your particular circumstances. Requirements vary between states and territories. Seek independent professional advice and check with your state or territory WHS regulator before acting on any information in this article.
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