As of 3 October, Western Australia’s Occupational Safety and Health Amendment Act 2018 is in effect. This means that Western Australian employers can be fined up to $3.5 million (up from $625,000), for repeat level 4 safety breaches. Individuals can also be fined $680,000 and jailed for five years (up from $312,500 and two years).
The fines are now Australia’s second highest maximum work health and safety fine, behind Queensland’s $10 million fine for industrial manslaughter.
The sharp increase comes after the Government of Western Australia committed to harsher fines in August last year. At the time, WA was under pressure to bring its controversially low work safety fines into line with other states and territories, and to make sure safety fines better reflected the importance of a safe workplace.
Premier Mark McGowan said the significant increases reflect the seriousness of ensuring the safety of Western Australian workers.
“All workers have the right to return home safely from work, and my Government is committed to improving workplace health and safety laws.”
Acting Commerce and Industrial Relations Minister Francis Logan said he is confident the new penalties will meet community expectations and improve safety in the Western Australian workplace.
“The McGowan Government is working on modernising other workplace health and safety laws, which we hope to introduce to State Parliament next year,” Mr Logan shared.
The current bill is available to download here.