This month marks a significant step forward for workplace health and safety in Victoria and a strong reminder to all employers everywhere that psychological wellbeing is just as critical as physical safety.
On 1 December 2025, WorkSafe Victoria (WorkSafe) introduced the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 - a landmark update requiring employers to take active, ongoing responsibility for protecting employees from psychological harm.
Under the new regime:
- Employers must explicitly identify psychosocial hazards at work — things like bullying, harassment, aggression or violence, exposure to traumatic events and other stressors that may harm mental health.
- Once hazards are identified, employers have a legal duty to eliminate or control the risks so far as is “reasonably practicable.”
- Risk-control isn’t a one-and-done: controls must be reviewed and updated especially when conditions change - for instance after organisational change, incident reports or new information.
Accompanying the regulations is a new Psychological Health Compliance Code - a practical guide to help employers understand and meet their obligations in real workplaces. WorkSafe Victoria+1
Why this matters — and what it means for workplaces
The change reflects a growing consensus: work-related psychological risks are real, often insidious, and can be just as damaging as physical hazards. As the lead at WorkSafe put it: “just like physical injuries, psychological injuries can take a terrible toll on workers’ lives.” Importantly, this isn’t about one-off training or posters. The new regulations demand a systemic, embedded approach to psychosocial risk management - from workplace design and culture, to leadership, policies and day-to-day interactions.
For employers, that means:
- Reframing mental health as a core component of workplace safety.
- Assessing work design, workloads, communication practices, leadership style, support systems and workplace relationships - not just “surface-level” stressors.
- Embedding ongoing hazard-identification, risk assessment and review into organisational processes.
For HR practitioners and leaders, this offers an opportunity to build a safer, more inclusive and more supportive workplace culture - one where psychological safety is treated as non-negotiable.
Action-Ready Steps for Employers & HR Teams
To stay ahead and comply with the new rules:
- Conduct a psychosocial hazard risk audit: review your workplace for potential hazards (e.g., workload, job design, culture, support, isolation, role clarity).
- Map existing controls against the regulations’ requirements: are you doing enough beyond training? Are there systemic controls, not just information or instruction?
- Engage with staff and (if relevant) Health & Safety Representatives (HSRs) to understand where the pain points are.
- Develop or update policies and systems: include mental-health/psychosocial risk in OHS business plans, grievance / conduct policies, role and performance management and record keeping.
- Set a schedule for reviewing risk controls: especially when there are organisational changes, incident reports or any other triggers.
What this means for employers — especially those operating across states
- If your business operates in NSW, Queensland, WA, Tasmania or other non-Victorian jurisdictions, you already have obligations under the harmonised WHS laws to manage psychosocial hazards.
- For Victorian employers (or multi-state employers including Victoria), the new regulations mean you need to treat psychosocial risks with the same rigour as physical hazards, not just as “wellbeing extras.”
- Organisations operating nationally should treat psychological health compliance as an integrated, cross-jurisdictional requirement: review policies, hazard identification processes and risk-management systems to cover all states where you operate.
Need help?
Total HRM supports organisations to understand psychosocial risks, meet their WHS obligations and create healthier, safer workplaces. We can help you assess hazards, update policies and systems, and equip leaders with the skills to manage psychological safety effectively. For more information on the new regulations, see WorkSafe Victoria’s guidance: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/psychological-health or contact Total HRM on 1800 868 254.