On 30 September 2025, WorkSafe Victoria released its long-awaited Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 (opens a new window) ("the Regulations").
The new Regulations will come into effect on 1 December 2025, giving Victorian employers a narrow window to assess their current practices and ensure compliance.
Accompanying the new Regulations is the Compliance Code: Psychological Health (opens a new window) ("the Compliance Code" or “the Code”), a practical guide designed to help organisations meet their obligations under both the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (opens a new window) ("the OHS Act") and the new Regulations.
Importantly, failure to follow the new Compliance Code may be used as evidence in legal proceedings for breaches of the OHS Act and/or the new Regulations.
Together, the new psychological health Regulations and Compliance Code establish a clear and enforceable framework for managing psychosocial risks in Victorian workplaces.
Compared to the 'harmonised' national framework for psychological health, established under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2011 (opens a new window) ("model WHS Act") and guided by the Model Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work (opens a new window), Victoria's approach is notably more prescriptive.
Employers must be able to demonstrate that their systems are not only in place but actively maintained and responsive to psychosocial hazards and risks.
The new Regulations
The new Regulations establish a clear legal framework for managing psychological health risks in Victorian workplaces. Their core objectives are to:
Identify psychosocial hazards
Implement appropriate and effective risk controls
Review and revise those controls on an ongoing basis
Risk elimination and reduction
Under the new Regulations, employers are required to eliminate psychological health risks where it is reasonably practicable to do so.
Where elimination is not reasonably practicable, employers must implement risk control measures to reduce the risk, using one or more of the following approaches:
1. Altering work-related factors, including:
Management of work (e.g. leadership, decision-making, resourcing)
Plant (e.g. equipment, machinery, noise exposure)
Systems of work (e.g. policies, procedures, work organisation)
Work design (e.g. task structure, scheduling, automation)
Work environment (e.g. lighting, temperature, layout, security)
2. Providing information, instruction, or training
3. Applying a combination of control measures
Importantly, information, instruction, or training must not be used as the sole or primary control measure unless it is demonstrably not reasonably practicable to implement controls that alter work-related factors.
This provision places a clear and enforceable obligation on employers to prioritise risk controls that address the source of the hazard, rather than relying predominantly on awareness or behavioural interventions.
Reviewing and revising risk controls
The new Regulations also place clear obligations on employers to review and, if necessary, revise risk control measures in the following circumstances:
Before any workplace changes are likely to affect psychosocial hazards
When new or additional information about a hazard becomes available
Following a report of psychological injury or hazard
After a notifiable incident involving a psychosocial hazard
If existing controls are found to be inadequate
Upon request from a Health and Safety Representative
This obligation places a significant duty on Victorian employers to demonstrate and document the review and revision of psychosocial risk control measures in response to every reported hazard, psychological injury, or mental health-related workers' compensation claim.
Organisations must demonstrate not only that risks are being managed, but also that controls are being actively reassessed and updated in line with new information, incident outcomes, and employee feedback.
The new Compliance Code
The Compliance Code: Psychological Health (opens a new window) provides detailed interpretive guidance to support employers in meeting their obligations under the new Regulations and the OHS Act 2004.
The Code defines psychological health hazards and outlines the standards, processes, and documentation required to demonstrate compliance with these hazards.
The Code applies to organisations of all sizes and includes specific examples and expectations across several key areas:
1. Structured review of risk controls:
The Code outlines how risk controls must be reviewed, ensuring that those responsible have the authority, resources, and mandate to recommend and implement changes.
2. Context-sensitive review processes:
Reviews must be proportionate to the nature and severity of the hazard or incident. The Code provides guidance on when a brief analysis is sufficient and when a comprehensive, documented review is required.
3. Proactive risk management:
Where psychosocial hazards are reported frequently, employers are expected to regularly review and, if necessary, revise control measures to ensure they remain effective and reasonably practicable.
4. Robust documentation standards:
Employers must maintain clear records of their psychosocial risk management activities, including:
Use of prevention plan templates (available via WorkSafe Victoria (opens a new window))
Maintenance of an organisational risk register
Development of risk assessment and action plan templates
Documentation of consultation and decisions through meeting minutes (e.g. OHS committees, leadership teams, governance groups)
5. Defined triggers for review:
The Code specifies when risk controls must be revisited, including:
After any incident or workers' compensation claim related to psychosocial hazards
Following any notifiable incident
When new information about a hazard becomes available
Upon request from a Health and Safety Representative
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6. Heightened responsibilities for large organisations:
The Code recognises that larger employers and those in high-risk industries have greater obligations.
Employers operating in high-risk industries or with large workforces are expected to implement formal systems for reporting and managing psychosocial hazards.
These systems should be distinct from those used for physical hazards and designed to ensure employees are supported and enabled to report psychological health concerns.
How employers can prepare
To ensure compliance with the new Regulations by 1 December 2025, Victorian organisations are advised to take the following steps:
1. Review the new Regulations and Compliance Code
Download and review the new Regulations (opens a new window) and Compliance Code (opens a new window) to understand your legal obligations and practical expectations for managing psychosocial risks.
2. Conduct a gap analysis
Assess your organisation’s current psychosocial risks, risk assessments, control measures, systems, and procedures against the requirements specified in the Compliance Code.
3. Close identified gaps
Take action to address any gaps in your psychosocial risk management approach:
Identify psychosocial hazards
through consultation with employees and HSRs, analysis of HR and OHS data, observation of work practices, and employee surveys.
Assess risks
by evaluating the likelihood, frequency, and severity of exposure to each hazard. Ensure assessments are documented and conducted collaboratively.
Control risks
by prioritising changes to work design, systems, environment, and leadership practices. Use training and instruction only as supplementary controls where other measures are not reasonably practicable.
4. Update Policies and Procedures
Organisations should ensure they have clearly defined, well-integrated processes for reviewing and revising psychological health risk assessments and controls.
These processes must align with broader risk management protocols and be embedded within incident reporting and investigation procedures, particularly those involving notifiable incidents.
Establishing strong record-keeping practices and a formal reporting system for psychosocial hazards, especially in higher-risk environments, will also support early identification, prompt reporting, and timely intervention.
Need help navigating the new Regulations?
If you are unsure how the new Regulations and Compliance Code apply to your organisation, or need support aligning your OHS systems, Lockton’s Work Health and Safety team is here to help.
We can help simplify the process and strengthen safety outcomes by offering:
A detailed gap analysis of your current systems and processes
Development and implementation of psychological health risk management and control frameworks, including risk assessments, risk profiling, and risk registers
Implementation of systems to manage and report psychological health hazards
To find out how this support can be integrated into your operations, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
The contents of this publication are provided for general information only. Lockton arranges the insurance and is not the insurer. While the content contributors have taken reasonable care in compiling the information presented, we do not warrant that the information is correct. The contents of this publication are not intended as a legal commentary or advice and should not be relied on in that way. It is not intended to be interpreted as advice on which you should rely and may not necessarily be suitable for you. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content in this publication.
