The health and safety of all workers, including their mental health, is a high priority for the State Government, so it has committed to fund the Mentally Healthy Workplaces Grant Program.

Work is a large part of our daily lives and can have both a positive and negative affect on our mental health. The grant program looks to create mentally healthy workplaces by funding initiatives which improve mental health for Western Australian workers.

On 15 December 2021, Minister for Industrial Relations, the Honourable Stephen Dawson MLC, announced an update on the timing of the release of the draft WHS regulations.

Drafting the WHS regulations for all three sectors, which are needed to allow the WHS Act to be proclaimed, has been a very complex process. Recognising the importance of this legislation, the Government has allocated significant resources to the drafting process. Exposure drafts of the WHS regulations for the three sectors are now available.

These publications are designed to help WA organisations and their associated workforces (including volunteers) prepare for the new Work Health and Safety laws. More guidance will be added as it becomes available.

Overviews of the new WHS laws

Overview documents provide Information on the new WHS laws coming into effect in 2022. Guidance for mines and petroleum regulations will be released at a later date.

The department is holding public webinars and information sessions to assist industry prepare for WA's new WHS laws. Recordings of the webinar presentations, including question and answer sessions, are available below as an education resource that can be shared with teams and others. 

To assist workplaces prepare for WA's new WHS laws, the following videos have been provided as an education resource that can be shared with teams and others.

The new WHS laws make important changes to licences and registrations, known as 'Authorisations' in the WHS Act. 

These changes include: 

• names of authorisations
• duration of authorisations
• requirements to hold an authorisation
• introduction of a new authorisation – Asbestos Assessor

This information is designed to help authorisation holders or people who wish to be authorisation holders prepare for the new WHS laws. More information will be added as it becomes available.

Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 licences, permits and registrations are collectively known as Authorisations.

Authorisations are required for the use of some plant and substances, and certain types of work.

Notifications and reporting

Information about key changes to notifications and reporting will be provided shortly.

Topics will include:

• Incident notification
• Registrations
• Reporting
• Request and reviews
• Statutory positions (mining)
• Approvals

The Aboriginal Employment Program (AEP) is a diversity and inclusion initiative that sits within the department’s Aboriginal Employment Strategy and the Diversity and Inclusion Plan. The AEP is designed to increase the department’s workforce representation of Aboriginal people. Each year the department offers a number of employment opportunities at various levels through the AEP.

This information is designed to help WA organisations and their associated workforces (including volunteers) prepare for the new Work Health and Safety laws. More information will be added as it becomes available.

Who is the regulator under the WHS Act? 

The WorkSafe Commissioner is the regulator under the WHS Act. The Commissioner will be responsible to the Minister for Industrial Relations for the administration of: