Over the past five years, all Australian jurisdictions (with the
exceptions of Victoria and Western Australia) have adopted
harmonised work health and safety legislation (WHS
legislation).
Under this legislation, monetary penalties for failing to ensure
the health and safety of workers have increased significantly.
In particular, recent decisions in the Commonwealth and New
South Wales jurisdictions have indicated that courts are now more
willing to impose higher range penalties for WHS breaches in line
with the legislation.
Penalties explained
Under the WHS legislation, penalties are scaled against the
severity of the offence and fall under three categories.
A corporation charged with the most serious breach – a
category one offence for recklessly exposing an individual to a
risk of death or serious injury or illness – may face a
maximum penalty of up to $3 million, while an officer may face a
maximum penalty of $600,000 and five years' imprisonment.
