Work health and safety in Australia is regulated separately by each state and territory, plus the Commonwealth. Most jurisdictions operate under the harmonised model WHS laws; Victoria runs its own separate but similarly structured legislation. Whichever applies to you, the right first stop is always your actual state or territory regulator, not a general search.
Below is the direct link to the regulator and the current Act for every jurisdiction.
Want this as a printable checklist?
Free WHS compliance checklist (PDF) — print it, tick it off, keep it on hand.
WHS Regulators by State and Territory
| Jurisdiction | Regulator | Legislation | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | Safe Work Australia (policy) / Comcare (Commonwealth entities) | Model WHS laws, codes of practice | safeworkaustralia.gov.au / comcare.gov.au |
| New South Wales | SafeWork NSW | Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) | safework.nsw.gov.au |
| Queensland | Workplace Health and Safety Queensland | Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) | worksafe.qld.gov.au |
| Victoria | WorkSafe Victoria | Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) — own legislation, not the harmonised model laws | worksafe.vic.gov.au |
| Western Australia | WorkSafe WA | Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) | dmirs.wa.gov.au/worksafe |
| South Australia | SafeWork SA | Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) | safework.sa.gov.au |
| Tasmania | WorkSafe Tasmania | Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (Tas) | worksafe.tas.gov.au |
| Australian Capital Territory | WorkSafe ACT | Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (ACT) | worksafe.act.gov.au |
| Northern Territory | NT WorkSafe | Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act (NT) | worksafe.nt.gov.au |
One list, kept current
Regulator sites and legislation get updated more often than most businesses have time to track. This page exists so you always have the right starting point, whichever state or territory you operate in.
If you need more than links — an actual system for managing WHS compliance day to day — that is what SafeBase was built for: 16 documents, a digital portal, a safety dashboard, and AI prompts throughout. mxminstitute.com.au