Is the psychosocial code of practice mandatory?

In most jurisdictions an approved code is not mandatory in itself, but it can be used as evidence of what is reasonably practicable, and duty-holders must meet an equivalent or higher standard if they manage risks another way. In New South Wales, section 26A has made compliance with approved codes, or an equivalent or higher standard, a statutory duty since 1 July 2026, and Queensland has imposed the same duty under its own section 26A since 1 July 2018. In Victoria, complying with the compliance code is deemed compliance with the duties it covers.

Does Victoria have a psychosocial code of practice?

Victoria uses a compliance code rather than an approved code of practice. The Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 took effect on 1 December 2025, and WorkSafe Victoria's Compliance code: Psychological health provides deemed compliance with the duties it covers.

How many psychosocial hazards does the Comcare code list?

The Commonwealth Work Health and Safety (Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work) Code of Practice 2024 identifies 17 psychosocial hazards, adding fatigue, intrusive surveillance and job insecurity to the 14 common hazards in Safe Work Australia's model code.

Which code applies to an organisation working across several states?

First identify which regime applies: usually the law of the state or territory where the work is done, but Commonwealth agencies and some Comcare-licensed employers are covered by Commonwealth WHS law wherever they operate, and some industries have their own safety laws. Many organisations then run one system and check it against each applicable code.

Psychosocial hazards codes of practice in each Australian jurisdiction

CaseNote | Every exposure counts · Reviewed 15 October 2026

Every Australian jurisdiction now has guidance on managing psychosocial hazards at work, but the instruments, their dates and their legal force differ. This page summarises the position in each state and territory and for the Commonwealth, as checked on 15 October 2026.

How codes of practice work

Under the model work health and safety laws, an approved code of practice is practical guidance on how to meet duties under the Act and Regulations. It is not legislation in itself, but it can be used in court as evidence of what is known about a hazard and what is reasonably practicable. A duty-holder may manage a risk in another way, provided it achieves a standard of health and safety equivalent to or higher than the code.

Three jurisdictions depart from that model in ways that matter:

New South Wales. Since 1 July 2026, section 26A of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) has required duty-holders to comply with approved codes of practice, or manage the hazards and risks in a different way that provides an equivalent or higher standard. Following the psychosocial code, or demonstrably bettering it, is now a statutory duty. See the section 26A readiness briefing.
Queensland. Section 26A of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), in force since 1 July 2018, imposes the same duty: comply with an approved code of practice, or manage the hazards and risks in a different way that provides an equivalent or higher standard. It has applied to psychosocial risk since Queensland's psychosocial code took effect on 1 April 2023.
Victoria. Victoria has not adopted the model WHS laws. Its psychosocial duties sit under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025, which took effect on 1 December 2025. WorkSafe Victoria's Compliance code: Psychological health provides deemed compliance: a duty-holder who complies with it is taken to have complied with the duties it covers.

Jurisdiction by jurisdiction

Jurisdiction	Instrument and status
New South Wales	SafeWork NSW Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work (May 2021). Psychosocial risk regulations in force since 1 October 2022. Section 26A has made approved codes enforceable since 1 July 2026.
Victoria	Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025, in effect from 1 December 2025, with WorkSafe Victoria's Compliance code: Psychological health (deemed compliance).
Queensland	Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022, in effect from 1 April 2023 alongside Queensland's psychosocial risk regulations. Under section 26A of the Queensland Act, duty-holders must comply with it or meet an equivalent or higher standard.
Western Australia	WorkSafe WA Psychosocial hazards in the workplace: Code of practice (2022). WA also has separate codes on workplace behaviour and on violence and aggression.
South Australia	The Code of Practice for managing psychosocial hazards at work, based on the model code, commenced in South Australia on 19 February 2026.
Tasmania	Managing psychosocial hazards at work code of practice, effective in Tasmania from 4 January 2023.
Australian Capital Territory	Work Health and Safety (Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice) Approval 2023, commencing 27 November 2023.
Northern Territory	Managing psychosocial hazards at work code of practice, based on the model code, approved under section 274 of the WHS Act and published in the NT Government Gazette (No. G11) on 23 May 2024.
Commonwealth (Comcare)	Work Health and Safety (Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work) Code of Practice 2024, commencing 2 November 2024. It applies under Commonwealth WHS law, which covers Commonwealth agencies and some employers licensed in the Comcare scheme, and identifies 17 hazards, adding fatigue, intrusive surveillance and job insecurity to the model list.

Dates are the commencement or approval dates published by each regulator or on the relevant legislation register. Where a regulator publishes later versions, the current version applies.

What is common across every jurisdiction

Psychological health is part of health and safety, and the general duty of care covers it.
The core process is the same: identify hazards, assess risks, control them and review the controls.
Duty-holders must consult workers about health and safety matters that affect them.
Controls should address how work is designed and organised, not only individual coping.
Traumatic events or material is listed as a hazard, which matters most for trauma-exposed work.

The psychosocial hazards guide covers the hazards and the four-step process in more detail.

Organisations operating in more than one jurisdiction

Start by working out which regime applies, because location alone does not decide it. Most employers are covered by the WHS or OHS law of the state or territory where the work is carried out, but Commonwealth agencies, and some employers licensed in the Comcare scheme, are covered by Commonwealth WHS law wherever they operate (check your licence rather than assuming), and some industries, such as mining in some states, have their own safety legislation. Get advice where the position is unclear.

Once the applicable regimes are known, a national organisation, or an emergency service that sends crews across borders, can build one psychosocial risk management system and check it against each of them: the approved codes that NSW and Queensland make enforceable, the Victorian compliance code, and local differences such as Comcare's additional hazards.

Where CaseNote fits

Whichever code applies, the evidence a regulator asks for is similar: how hazards were identified, what controls were applied and whether they worked. CaseNote provides an anonymous hazard survey, trauma exposure tracking and follow-up, and de-identified reporting with an append-only audit trail. It supports compliance work; it does not discharge anyone's duties.

Related guides

Sources

Safe Work Australia, Model Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work (July 2022).
SafeWork NSW, Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work (May 2021).
WorkSafe Victoria, Compliance code: Psychological health, and the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 (Vic).
WorkSafe Queensland, Codes of practice, including the Managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work Code of Practice 2022; and Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), section 26A.
WorkSafe WA, Psychosocial hazards in the workplace: Code of practice (2022).
SafeWork SA, The Code of Practice for managing psychosocial hazards at work.
WorkSafe Tasmania, Managing psychosocial hazards at work code of practice.
WorkSafe ACT, Psychosocial hazards, and the Work Health and Safety (Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice) Approval 2023 (ACT), NI2023-482.
NT WorkSafe, Managing psychosocial hazards at work code of practice, and Northern Territory Government Gazette No. G11 (23 May 2024).
Comcare, Psychosocial hazards, and the Work Health and Safety (Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work) Code of Practice 2024 (Cth), F2024L01380.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Codes and regulations change; always confirm the current instrument with the relevant regulator before relying on it. CaseNote is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any organisation named in this guide.