• Legislation & regulations

Victorian businesses should be aware of significant changes in workplace safety regulations, with new rules addressing psychosocial hazards set to come into effect from 1 December 2025.

The new regulations recognise that psychosocial hazards are just as important as physical hazards, creating new obligations for Victorian employers to identify and manage risks associated with psychosocial hazards in their workplaces.

For more information on psychosocial hazards, including employer and employee resources, visit the WorkSafe Victoria website.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act), hosts have the same occupational health and safety duties to labour hire workers as to any other employee.

Labour hire providers and hosts have shared responsibilities for worker health and safety, including:

• providing and maintaining a safe working environment
• training
• assessing risks
• monitoring the health of employees
• monitoring conditions at the workplace.

They must ensure the employee is capable and provided with everything they need to do the job safely, and from 1 December, this includes eliminating or reducing risks to health and safety associated with psychosocial hazards so far as is reasonably practicable

Under the OHS Act, these legal obligations are shared between hosts and providers, who must consult, cooperate and coordinate with one another as much as reasonably practicable, to ensure all duties to labour hire workers are met.

Labour hire providers and hosts also cannot pass their duties onto one another through a contract.

Mental health in the workplace

Psychosocial hazards such as bullying, sexual harassment, aggression or violence, and exposure to traumatic events, continue to cause significant harm in Victorian workplaces.

Claims for work-related mental injuries in Victoria remain high, with 17 per cent of workplace injury claims to WorkSafe reported as mental injuries in 2024-25.

Like physical health risks, the risk of mental health injury can be higher in certain industries such as construction.

It’s estimated that levels of depression, anxiety and stress are 40 per cent higher than the average population for Australian construction workers and that one in four had high symptoms of depression or anxiety.

On average, it’s estimated that a construction worker takes their own life every two days in Australia.

Australian construction workers are estimated to be six times more likely to take their own lives than to be killed in an accident at work, and young construction workers are two times more likely to take their own lives than in other industries.

Beyond the tragedy of every life lost and the terrible impact of suicide and mental health issues on family and friends, there are significant costs on businesses and the economy. These include direct costs such as healthcare, support services and workers' compensation claims.

In addition, there are indirect costs like lost productivity from absenteeism and presenteeism, recruitment and training of new staff and the burden of informal care provided by family and friends.

Addressing psychosocial hazards is not just a legal requirement but a key part of creating safe, healthy and productive workplaces.

Employers and hosts are encouraged to review their existing health and safety systems ahead of the new regulations coming into effect on 1 December 2025.

Find or provide support

• Lifeline Australia – 13 11 14
• Beyond Blue – 1300 22 4636
• MensLine Australia – 1300 78 99 78
• Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
• Kids Helpline (for under 25s) – 1800 55 1800
• Incolink – 1300 000 129
• Protect Counselling – 1300 725 881