Victoria has introduced new workplace psychosocial health regulations and an accompanying Compliance Code effective 1 December 2025. From that date, employers must identify, control, and review risks to psychological health with the same rigor as physical hazards.
Resource: Compliance Code: Psychological health (WorkSafe Victoria, 2025)
What’s new: Clear, explicit duties to identify psychosocial hazards, implement higher-order controls (design/system/environment/management changes), and review those controls.
Who it applies to: All Victorian employers (and contractors they direct or influence).
When it starts: 1 December 2025.
How to show compliance: Follow the risk cycle (identify → assess → control → review), consult employees/HSRs, prioritise higher-order controls, and document decisions, actions, and reviews.
Cross-jurisdictional fit: Largely aligned with the WHS approach used in other states/territories and the 2022 Model Code; a few Vic-specific nuances are noted below.
The regulations make it explicit that psychological health is OHS. Employers must:
Identify psychosocial hazards in the work design, systems, environment, management of work, and interactions.
Control the risks so far as reasonably practicable, prioritising higher-order changes over low-level admin fixes.
Consult employees and involve HSRs (where present) throughout.
Review and revise controls when things change, issues are reported, or controls aren’t working.
Keep records that evidence the above.
Common hazards include: high/low job demands, low control, low support, poor role clarity, poor organisational justice (perceived unfairness), poor change management, bullying, harassment (including sexual harassment), conflict, aggression/violence (including from customers), exposure to traumatic events or distressing material (vicarious trauma), remote/isolated work, and adverse environmental factors (noise, heat, poor ergonomics). Treat these exactly as you would physical hazards: identify, assess, control, and review.
The hierarchy of control applies here too. Design/system/environment changes come before administrative controls like policy and training.
Examples of higher-order controls:
Rebalance workload and headcount; redesign job roles; set realistic deadlines.
Improve scheduling and staffing to avoid chronic overtime.
Change supervision structures; remove or correct toxic conduct.
Engineer environmental improvements (layout, noise, security measures, safe rooms).
Administrative controls (supporting, not leading):
Policies, awareness, and training (e.g., anti-bullying, respectful behaviours).
EAP and coaching.
Procedures and reporting pathways.
Training/EAP can support your approach, but must not be the primary or sole control where better (reasonably practicable) changes exist.
Employers must consult employees, and involve HSRs where they exist, during hazard identification, control selection, and reviews. Use practical methods: confidential surveys, focus groups, toolbox talks, OHS committee, suggestion channels. For contractors under your influence, consult them too.
Review controls when:
You change work design, systems, or structures.
New information arises (surveys, incidents, complaints).
Employees report psychosocial hazards or injuries.
Notifiable incidents occur.
A control obviously isn’t effective.
An HSR requests a review.
Keep a cadence (e.g., quarterly/biannual), plus event-based reviews.
All other jurisdictions regulate psychosocial risks under the WHS framework using the Model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work (2022). The substance is aligned:
Duties: WHS uses the PCBU/officer/worker framing; Victoria uses employer/employee. The practical expectations are similar, identify risks, consult, control, review.
Hierarchy: Both expect higher-order controls before admin measures.
Hazard lists: Overlapping (demands, control, support, relationships, justice, change, environment, aggression/harassment, trauma).
Consultation: Worker/HSR involvement is expected in both systems.
Reviews: Both require active monitoring and revision; Victoria is explicit about reviewing when an employee reports a psychosocial issue.
Takeaway for national employers: You can apply one high-water-mark standard across Australia: adopt the Victorian emphasis on higher-order controls and explicit HSR involvement, and you’ll meet or exceed obligations elsewhere.
The WorkSafe Victoria Compliance Code translates legal duties into concrete actions and examples, and if you follow it, you’re taken to have complied with the law to the extent the code covers those duties.
The Code provides:
Step-by-step risk management (identify → assess → control → review).
Consultation guidance (including practical techniques for different workplace sizes).
Dozens of worked examples and control ideas by hazard type.
Prompts and checklists (e.g., hazard identification aids).
Record-keeping expectations (what to document, when, and why).
Optional prevention plans (templates) for complex hazards like bullying or sexual harassment.
Link: Compliance Code: Psychological health (Edition 1, 2025)
Brief leadership and supervisors
Explain the Dec 1, 2025 start and their roles.
Set expectations: psychological health = safety = compliance.
Allocate a senior owner (e.g., HR Director or HSE Lead) and a cross-functional working group.
Update your system and policies
Embed psychosocial risks into your safety management system (policy, procedures, risk register).
Ensure you have current bullying/harassment and sexual harassment policies with clear reporting and consequences.
Add psychosocial hazards to incident/hazard reporting and induction.
Map your current risks
Run a confidential baseline survey and/or targeted workshops.
Review HR/OHS data (absenteeism, turnover hotspots, complaints, overtime).
Identify high-risk roles (e.g., high customer aggression, vicarious trauma, 24/7 operations).
Consult and co-design controls
Involve employees and HSRs in interpreting results and shaping responses.
Use multiple methods: committee, focus groups, anonymous channels, 1:1s.
Implement higher-order controls first
Work design: balance workload; clarify roles; adjust rosters; set realistic deadlines.
Systems of work: escalation paths; de-escalation protocols; two-person attendance for high-risk tasks; triage customer interactions.
Environment: security screens, safe rooms, duress alarms, ergonomic improvements.
Management: expectations for supportive supervision; consequences for misconduct; fair and timely complaint handling.
Add supporting admin controls (policies, training, EAP) after the above.
Strengthen reporting and response
Provide multiple, safe channels to report psychosocial issues (including anonymous).
Train HR/leaders on trauma-informed responses and fair investigations.
Communicate non-retaliation and close the loop with reporters.
Train the right people, the right way
All staff: what psychosocial hazards are, expected behaviours, how to report, available supports.
HSRs/Committees: hazard ID techniques, consultation, review triggers.
Document everything (your evidence trail)
Hazard ID results (surveys/workshops), consultation notes, risk assessments.
Control decisions (with rationale), implementation dates, owners.
Training records and communications.
Review logs: what you checked, what changed, outcomes.
Monitor and improve
Set review cadences (e.g., quarterly) and event-based triggers.
Track indicators (overtime hours, complaint trends, sick leave, turnover).
Report progress to the executive/board.
Tip for SMEs: “Reasonably practicable” scales to your size/resources. Start simple: talk with your people, fix obvious work design issues, set behaviour standards, and keep notes.
Alignment with the Compliance Code (the easiest pathway to “deemed compliance”).
A live risk register showing psychosocial hazards and higher-order controls.
Consultation evidence (minutes, surveys, HSR involvement).
Implemented changes to work design/systems/environment—not only training.
Review records tied to triggers (reported issues, change, incidents, HSR requests).
Induction and refresher training that includes psychosocial health.
Clear reporting pathways and fair response processes (with non-retaliation).
If you can tell the story—we identified → we consulted → we changed the way work is done → we reviewed and improved—and back it with documents, you’re in strong shape.
Adopt Victoria’s higher-order controls emphasis as your national baseline.
Always involve HSRs where they exist.
Ensure officers understand their due diligence expectations (particularly in WHS jurisdictions).
Keep a single national psychosocial framework with local addenda for state nuances.
When do the new regulations start, and who do they cover?
They commence on 1 December 2025 and cover all Victorian employers (across industries and sizes), including contractors under your management or control.
What should employers do right now?
Brief leaders; update your SMS and policies; baseline your risks with surveys/data; consult employees/HSRs; implement higher-order controls; set up safe reporting; train managers and staff; document; review.
Is training or EAP alone enough?
No. Training/EAP are supporting measures. If reasonably practicable higher-order controls exist (e.g., rebalance workload, redesign tasks, fix culture), you must prioritise those.
How do we show compliance?
Follow the Compliance Code, keep a psychosocial risk register, show higher-order controls, evidence consultation and reviews, and retain records.
Do we need formal prevention plans or routine reports to WorkSafe?
Prevention plans aren’t mandatory, but they’re useful for complex hazards (bullying, sexual harassment). No new routine reporting requirement, but you must manage and document risks and notify serious incidents as per normal OHS rules.
We’re a small business—what’s “reasonably practicable” for us?
Scale your approach to your risks and resources. Fix obvious work design issues, set behaviour standards, consult, and keep simple records. Use WorkSafe templates and the Code.
This isn’t about posters and webinars, it’s about how work is designed and led. Start now, fix what you can, and document the journey. You’ll protect your people, improve performance, and be ready for 1 December 2025.
Helpful link: Compliance Code: Psychological health (WorkSafe Victoria, 2025)
Need help? Book a quick consult and we’ll pressure test your plan, prioritise higher-order controls, and prepare a clean evidence pack.