Businesses and public authorities covered by the Commonwealth jurisdiction's WHS laws could soon face the toughest WHS penalties in the country, under a major amendment Bill that will also introduce presumptive workers' compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Federal Government has highlighted the link between low pay - along with the threat of "deactivation" - and poor safety outcomes in the gig sector, in announcing "world-leading" laws giving new powers to the Fair Work Commission.
PCBUs' incident notification duties could soon be amended to capture a much broader range of incidents and require periodic reporting of matters like workplace bullying and traumatic events.
The national model WHS laws have been amended to significantly increase the maximum available fines and jail times, and to clarify the operation of the category-1 offence in a way that is likely to give regulators and prosecutors more confidence to pursue company officers for recklessness or gross negligence.