WHS Regulatory Changes 2024-2025: A Construction Industry Summary

Overview of Recent Changes

The 2024-2025 period has seen substantial amendments to Work Health and Safety legislation across Australian jurisdictions. For construction businesses, staying current with these changes is essential for compliance and worker protection.

This article summarises the key regulatory developments affecting the construction industry.

Increased Penalties (From 1 July 2024)

New South Wales introduced the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Penalty Notices) Regulation 2024, which:

• Created 88 new penalty notice offences for existing regulatory breaches
• Increased all existing penalty notice amounts by 24%

This signals a tougher enforcement approach, making it more costly for businesses that fail to meet their obligations.

Crystalline Silica Regulations (From 1 September 2024)

The Work Health and Safety Amendment (Crystalline Silica Substances) Regulation 2024 introduced stronger controls for silica dust exposure:

• Requirement to assess whether CSS processing is 'high risk'
• Mandatory Silica Risk Control Plans for high-risk work
• Crystalline silica training requirements for exposed workers
• Controlled processing requirements for all CSS work

These changes follow the national ban on engineered stone from 1 July 2024.

Fall Height Definition Changes (From 1 July 2026)

South Australia will align with the national model by changing the 'high risk construction work' fall height threshold from 3 metres to 2 metres. This means:

• More work will require a Safe Work Method Statement
• Principal contractors will have additional notification obligations
• Businesses should prepare for this change now

Other jurisdictions already apply the 2-metre threshold.

New Workplace Exposure Limits (From 1 December 2026)

Work health and safety ministers have agreed to new Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs) that will replace the current Workplace Exposure Standards. These updated limits reflect current scientific understanding of hazardous substance risks.

Notable changes include a reduced exposure standard for welding fumes to 1mg/m³ (eight-hour TWA), which took effect from 1 October 2024 in some jurisdictions.

Regulatory Transparency Reforms

South Australia's Work Health and Safety (Review Recommendations) Amendment Act 2024 reformed confidentiality rules, allowing SafeWork SA to:

• Communicate more information about regulatory activities
• Share information with victims of workplace accidents and their families
• Provide greater transparency about compliance and enforcement

NSW Regulation Remake

The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (NSW) has been remade as the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025. While this is largely a technical update, businesses should ensure their references to specific regulation clauses are updated accordingly.

Compliance Focus Areas

SafeWork SA's 2024 construction compliance campaign provides insight into regulatory priorities. The campaign resulted in:

• 213 compliance audits at residential and commercial sites
• 674 statutory notices issued
• 195 prohibition notices (immediate work stoppages)
• 475 improvement notices

This level of enforcement activity indicates regulators are actively targeting construction sites.

Preparing Your Business

To stay ahead of regulatory changes:

• Subscribe to your state regulator's newsletters for updates
• Review your safety management system against current requirements
• Update SWMS and procedures to reflect new obligations
• Ensure training programs cover recent regulatory changes
• Consider a compliance audit to identify gaps

Elliott Safety can assist with compliance reviews and help you understand how regulatory changes affect your specific operations. Contact us for a consultation.