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The NSW Government recently announced a significant expansion of SafeWork NSW’s inspectorate, with 20 new psychosocial‑focused inspectors now deployed across the state. This forms part of the largest increase to SafeWork NSW’s compliance workforce in its history, with 51 additional inspectors overall.
The initiative is funded through the Government’s $127.7 million investment in SafeWork NSW over four years and is a key component of the broader $344 million Workplace Mental Health package aimed at improving mental health support, injury prevention, and psychological safety in workplaces.
NSW was the first jurisdiction to introduce a psychosocial‑specific Code of Practice covering all psychosocial hazards across all workplaces. The focus remains on proactive work design and early hazard identification to prevent psychological harm before it occurs.
SafeWork NSW has reaffirmed its regulatory priority of managing psychosocial risks and has highlighted that psychological injuries can be just as harmful, costly, and disruptive as physical injuries.
The NSW Government is also establishing a new Psychosocial Advisory Service, which will provide employers and workers with direct support on managing psychosocial hazards and improving workplace mental health practices.
Psychosocial inspections
The newly appointed psychosocial inspectors bring expertise in psychology, workers compensation, anti‑bullying interventions, trauma‑informed practice, and youth mentoring. Their role is to help workplaces prevent, identify, and respond to psychosocial risks, including:
- Excessive job demands
- Bullying and harassment
- Exposure to traumatic events
- Sexual harassment
- Poor organisational change management
SafeWork NSW already conducts hundreds of proactive psychosocial inspections each year. The expanded team is expected to intensify this focus through:
- On‑the‑spot fines and strengthened compliance enforcement
- Responding to psychosocial incident notifications
- Providing tailored guidance and resources on preventing psychological injury
- Acting as a specialised first point of contact for mental‑health related safety concerns
- Supporting employers to meet return‑to‑work obligations
Key Takeaways for Employers
In light of SafeWork NSW’s expanded psychosocial oversight, employers should take proactive steps to ensure their workplaces are meeting modern WHS expectations. Regular proactive steps can help reduce risks. For example:
- Reviewing and updating psychosocial risk management frameworks
- Conducting or refreshing risk assessments and strengthening management capability to identify and respond to early signs of psychological harm
- Examining workload and work design practices
- Reinforcing bullying, harassment and sexual‑harassment prevention measures, and ensuring incident reporting processes are accessible and trusted
- Strong return‑to‑work planning for psychological injuries
- Conducting cultural “health checks” or cultural reviews
Employers are also encouraged to make use of the resources and advisory services provided by SafeWork NSW as part of its increased focus on psychological health.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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