Establishment of a SafeWork Advisory Council to Guide Work Health and Safety Strategy
Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Bill 2025
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council
Assent
Topics
occupational health risk management safety regulation work health and safety workplace health and safety
Introduced by: The Hon Sophie Cotsis MP (ALP); The Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Scott Farlow LIB
“On behalf of the Opposition, I contribute to debate on the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Bill 2025. I indicate that the Liberals and Nationals support the bill. These are important reforms that stem from the review by the Hon. Robert McDougall, KC, into the State’s work health and safety regulator, SafeWork NSW.”
Mark Latham IND
“There are too many failed agencies in the New South Wales public sector, and SafeWork is the worst of them. Never has a body had so much responsibility but delivered so little. As Minister Cotsis has admitted, it is a toothless tiger, a hopeless wreck of inaction and ineffectiveness.”
Mark Banasiak SFFP
“I support the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Bill 2025. I commend the Minister for bringing the bill to the House. She has already done a lot of good work in this space, and the bill is another example. I note the Minister’s second reading speech in the other place. She stated:”
Abigail Boyd GRN
“As The Greens spokesperson for work health and safety, I indicate our support for the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Bill 2025. This legislation puts the enabling infrastructure around the government policy to create SafeWork NSW as its own distinctive executive agency.”
Stephen Lawrence ALP
“I support the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Bill 2025. The bill represents the fulfillment of an important policy commitment made by the current Minns Labor Government when we were in opposition.”
Bob Nanva ALP
“I support the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Bill 2025. As a former union official, it dawned on me how often I used to have to sit in the lounge rooms of families who had lost a loved one at work.”
Mark Buttigieg ALP
“Mark Latham, the Hon. Mark Banasiak, Ms Abigail Boyd, the Hon. Stephen Lawrence and the Hon. Bob Nanva. This is a significant piece of legislation for the Government.”
News articles and press releases
Work Health and Safety Amendment (Standalone Regulator) Bill 2025
Ms SOPHIE COTSIS, Minister for Industrial Relations — 2025-02-18
From 1 July 2025, SafeWork NSW will be established as a public service executive agency by way of an administrative arrangements order. The order will establish the SafeWork Commissioner as the head of the newly formed executive agency. Schedule 1 [5] to the bill amends schedule 2 of the Act by removing references to the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service as the regulator and replaces it with reference to the SafeWork Commissioner. The effect of that is to establish the SafeWork Commissioner as the regulator. The SafeWork Commissioner will hold all necessary functions as the regulator under the Work Health and Safety Act. As head of the executive agency, the commissioner will also hold the functions of an executive agency head under the Government Sector Employment Act 2013.