On 1 October 2025, the Victorian State parliament passed new health and safety regulations with additional obligations for Victorian businesses and businesses with employees, contractors, subcontractors, or workplaces or sites in Victoria.

The new regulations, which are referred to as the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025, come into effect from 1 December 2025. All businesses with workers, contractors or places of business physically in Victoria will need to understand their new obligations.

The new Regulations relate specifically to employees’ and other workers’ psychological health in the workplace.

“Psychosocial hazard” in the Regulations means any factor or factors in:

• the work design; or
• the systems of work; or
• the management of work; or
• the carrying out of the work; or
• personal or work-related interactions,

that may arise in the working environment and may cause a worker to experience one or more negative psychological responses that create a risk to the worker’s health or safety. “Psychological response” includes cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses and the physiological processes associated with them.

Controlling Psychological Hazards

The following new obligations will apply to Victorian businesses and workplaces:

1. employers must, so far as is reasonably practicable, identify psychosocial hazards.
2. employers must, so far as is reasonably practicable, eliminate any risk associated with a psychosocial hazard.

There are some options to reduce risk where employers cannot reasonably eliminate a risk associated with a psychological hazard. The employer must try to reduce the risk so far as is reasonably practicable by altering:

1. the management of work; or
2. the plant; or
3. the systems of work; or
4. the work design; or
5. the workplace environment.

The Regulations also clarify what “work design” means – the equipment, content and organisation of an employee’s work tasks, activities, relationships and responsibilities within a job or role.

Only where the work environment cannot reasonably practicably be altered can the employer use information, instruction or training to reduce the risk. This can also be applied in addition to alterations to the work environment, as long as it is not being used as the primary tool to discharge the employer’s obligations.

There is a new obligation for employers to involve employees (and health and safety representatives, if any) in consultation before making decisions to control psychological hazards.

Review of control measures

An employer’s duty does not end once a control measure is implemented. The employer has an obligation to continue to review and make any adjustments to the control measures on an ongoing basis as well as when any psychological injury is reported or psychological hazard is identified by someone. Health and safety representatives can also directly request a review of a control measure.

The Regulations also outline a process for reporting of psychological hazards and a requirement that the employer communicate any agreement reached with a health and safety representative to all affected employees as soon as reasonably possible.

Lessons for employers

1. While psychological health is already included in the definition of “health” under the current Victorian regulations, the new Regulations will put particular focus and clarify the obligations of employers in relation to psychological health in the workplace.
2. All Victorian businesses or businesses who employ or engage employees or contractors in Victoria should prepare for the incoming Regulations.
3. Businesses can prepare by conducting phycological health audits, identifying hazards and implementing control measures before the commencement of the Regulations.
4. WorkSafe Victoria have been particularly determined to prosecute employers who do not observe their obligations in relation to psychological health. It is expected that the new Regulations will give them even more opportunities to issue penalties against non-complying businesses given this once-obscure area of health and safety has now been made substantially clearer.

Employers may struggle to identify psychological hazards or generate effective solutions to control those hazards. An employment lawyer can assist by conducting an independent audit of the psychological hazards in your workplace and advise you on effective control measures.

If you would like to speak to us about our workplace auditing services, contact us on 02 9412 3077 or [email protected]