From 1 July 2026, in New South Wales it is now mandatory for persons conducting a business or undertaking to comply with Approved Safety Codes of Practice.
While at first blush this change may seem only minor or inconsequential, there are potential implications in practice for both organisations and their officers that are worth closer consideration.
On 27 June 2025, the NSW government passed the Industrial Relations and Other Legislation Amendment (Workplace Protections) Act 2025 (NSW). While that Act established an anti-bullying and a sexual harassment jurisdiction in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission for non-private sector employees, it also made significant changes to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (WHS Act).
Amongst those safety related changes, was a change to how employers and persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) need to apply SafeWork NSW Codes of Practice, moving them to legally enforceable compliance benchmarks. The changes have been referred to as "comply or justify" laws.
Codes of Practice tend to deal with particular or specific safety issues and set out reasonably practicable ways in which a PCBU may controls those hazards and risks. Historically compliance with Codes of Practice was not mandatory (unless a Code of Practice was expressed as mandatory under the legislation). Having said that, any failure to meet the requirements set out in a Code of Practice was often relevant in...
The UAE AI Office has issued a statement debunking social media claims that a government website is fraudulent and confirming that it is an authentic website belonging to an official government en...