OHS Harmonisation Update – VIC
National harmonisation
The Victorian Government has confirmed its support to the principle of harmonisation subject to a satisfactory assessment of the impact and benefits to Victoria. The Government has initiated a supplementary Victorian specific assessment looking at the impact of the proposed laws on Victoria. It has stated that this will take several months, and has called on the Commonwealth to defer for 12 months the implementation of nationally harmonised occupational health and safety laws.
WorkSafe continues to enforce Victoria’s existing Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 and Compliance Codes.
For further details of the Victorian Government’s position, refer to the following media releases of 14 September 2011 and 28 September 2011.
The model Work Health and Safety Act, Regulations and Codes of Practice
View the model Work Health and Safety Act; Regulations and associated Codes of Practice on the Safe Work Australia website.
Also available on the Safe Work Australia website are details of the public comment period for several additional draft model Codes of Practice.
A national compliance and enforcement policy, largely based on Victoria’s current approach, will assist in aligning how occupational health and safety laws are administered across Australia. View the policy here.
Public consultation
Draft model mining regulations have been developed to support the model Work Health and Safety Act and Model Work Health and Safety Regulations. The draft model mining regulations were available for public comment from July to 14 October 2011, alongside draft codes of practice and an issues paper.
Safe Work Australia also released a mining Consultation Regulation Impact Statement and survey for public comment on 10 October 2011, with a closing date of Friday 11 November. Information on how to make a public submission on the mining Consultation Regulation Impact Statement is available on the Safe Work Australia website.
More information