Harmonisation? Dis-harmonisation?
Twelve months into our 'sort-of-harmonised' national WHS
system things are, in many ways, settling down without having the
dire consequences predicted in some quarters. However, things are
not all neat and tidy just yet!
Who's in and who's out?
As things stand, QLD, NSW and the Territories have the system in
place, and Tasmania and South Australia will join from 2013.
Victoria and Western Australia are still considering their
positions.
Life as we know it continues
There has been much debate as to whether compliance with the
harmonised legislation is a big deal, or whether WHS life will
continue as we know it with a few variations.
The general view now is that, for businesses that were
substantially compliant prior to harmonisation, the changes are
relatively small. The loudest cries of angst are coming from
businesses that were probably not compliant before and have
suddenly realised the size of their compliance gap. In
