For decades, Australia’s workplace laws have recognised that health is more than the absence of physical injury, it also includes mental health. But now, Victoria joins other Australian states and territories in formally codifying psychological safety as mandatory, not optional.
Effective 1 December 2025, employers in Victoria must identify psychosocial hazards in the workplace and take reasonable, proactive measures to eliminate or minimise these risks. This shift aligns Victoria with broader national direction, where awareness, regulation and expectations around mental health at work have already been rising.
This means employers now need to move beyond policy statements or reactive responses. They must understand what psychological safety looks like in practice, recognise workplace risk factors, and take clear, deliberate action to prevent psychological harm before it occurs.
Wellness in Infrastructure wholeheartedly supports these new laws. Our national research in 2018 and again in 2023 paints a grim and urgent picture of mental health in the infrastructure and construction sector:
We are burning out our emerging workforce.
Women report disproportionately higher stress and psychosocial load than men.
Workers, across the board, are losing time for rest, family and life beyond work.
Victoria’s move, from reactive response to proactive duty, is a critical step in redressing this bleak state of wellbeing. And while compliance is now a legal obligation, cultural and operational change is where real outcomes will be made.
Under the new Victorian regulations, consistent with national frameworks, employers must identify and manage psychosocial risks such as:
Aggression or violence
Bullying
Exposure to traumatic events or distressing content
Gendered violence
High job demands
Low job control
Low job demands
Low recognition and reward
Low role clarity
Poor environmental conditions
Poor organisational change management
Poor organisational justice
Poor support
Poor workplace relationships
Remote or isolated work
Sexual harassment
A full hazard guide, with examples and definitions, is available directly through WorkSafe Victoria.
🔗 https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/compliance-code-psychological-health-part-3-step-1-identify-hazards
If you are an employer who’s scratching their head, wondering what the changes mean for you – please don’t hesitate to reach out to us (no judgement, we are here to help you).
Our team can support you to:
Identify psychosocial hazards in your workplace
Assess risk severity and exposure
Develop and implement control measures
Build proactive wellbeing frameworks rather than reactive fixes
Train leaders, teams and safety personnel in psychological duty of care
We all have skin in this game and we now have legal momentum behind the change workers have needed for a long time. Compliance begins now. Culture transformation begins when you choose it.
Submit an enquiry through our Contact Us webform
Or call us directly on 0499 092 257
Wellness in Infrastructure stands ready to support employers Australia-wide to meet their obligations and more importantly, to build workplaces where people are safe, healthy, respected and able to thrive.
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