An independent review of SafeWork SA underway

The South Australian Government is inviting feedback from stakeholders on the outstanding law reform recommendations from an independent review of SafeWork SA.

Earlier this year the government publicly released the independent review of SafeWork SA, conducted by former WorkSafe Victoria executive director John Merritt. That review made several recommendations for amendments to the Work Health and Safety Act 2012. 

The government accepted a number of recommendations in its preliminary response, including that confidentiality provisions in section 271 of the WHS Act should be amended to enable SafeWork SA to share more information about investigations with victims of workplace incidents and their families.

The government committed to further consultation on other law reform recommendations from the independent review, in particular the following:

Recommendation 19: The WHS Act should be amended to provide for disputes under section 82 (concerning health and safety disputes) and section 89 (concerning the right to cease unsafe work) to be capable of being referred to the South Australian Employment Tribunal if the dispute remains unresolved 48 hours after a SafeWork SA inspector is requested to assist with resolving the dispute.

Recommendation 21: The WHS Act should be amended to align the right-of-entry regime with the model work health and safety laws, by removing current requirements under section 117 for a WHS entry permit holder to notify SafeWork SA about proposed entries to workplaces and to furnish reports after entry.

Recommendation 23: The WHS Act should be amended to allow WHS entry permit holders to take photographs, video, voice recordings, measurements and tests relevant to their investigations in terms similar to section 89(ba) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Victoria).

Recommendation 35: The WHS Act should be amended to allow SafeWork SA to seek an extension of time from a court to bring a prosecution for a criminal offence in limited circumstances.

Recommendation 35: The WHS Act should be amended to extend the existing civil penalty provisions to cover the primary duty of care in section 19 and related criminal offences, and standing for bringing civil penalty applications should be extended to workers, families of injured workers, and employee associations.

In relation to recommendation 39, the government has prepared a consultation paper outlining a potential civil dispute resolution model. This model incorporates civil penalty provisions within a structured alternative dispute resolution framework for both health and safety disputes and right-of-entry disputes under the WHS Act.

Feedback can be provided via email by no later than the close of business on Friday 10 November 2023.