HR under pressure as new psychosocial laws turn ‘nice to have’ into legal must‑have
Australian HR teams are shouldering unprecedented responsibility as new occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations formalise psychosocial risk management – and the people implementing the changes are burning out fastest.
Speaking to HRD, Sabrina Scherm, customer success manager at HiBob APJ, says the regulatory shift has triggered a “pretty abrupt reality check” for many organisations, with HR now carrying the weight of both compliance and culture change.
According to Scherm, the most significant on‑the‑ground change is that psychosocial risk is no longer treated as a wellbeing initiative, but as a core compliance requirement.
“The biggest shift is the sheer weight of responsibility landing on HR teams,” she said. “Psychosocial risk management has officially moved from being a nice benefit to a legal requirement, and for many businesses, that has meant a pretty abrupt reality check.”
HR teams are now simultaneously auditing workloads and work design, reviewing and tightening incident reporting processes, updating policies and procedures, and managing a sharp rise in conversations about stress, burnout and psychological safety. All of this, Scherm noted, is happening while teams are still trying to interpret what “good” actually looks like under the new rules.
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