Psychosocial Hazards at Work: New WA Legislation and What It Means

Workplace Psychosocial Injuries in Western Australia: Legislative Updates and Psychological Assessment

Western Australia's work health and safety landscape has undergone significant reform in recent years, with psychosocial hazards now firmly in the legislative spotlight. For workers, employers, legal professionals, and insurers operating in WA, understanding these changes — and the role of professional psychological assessment — has never been more important.

What Are Psychosocial Hazards?

Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work design, organisation, management, and the social environment that can cause psychological or physical harm. Under the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA), which came into force on 31 March 2022, employers now have explicit duties to identify and manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

Common psychosocial hazards include:

• Job demands: High workload, time pressure, and emotionally demanding work
• Low job control: Lack of autonomy and limited decision-making authority
• Poor support: Inadequate supervision, resources, or peer support
• Role conflict and ambiguity: Unclear expectations or conflicting responsibilities
• Workplace bullying and harassment: Including sexual harassment and discrimination
• Traumatic events: Exposure to distressing incidents in the course of employment
• Organisational change: Restructuring, redundancy, and job insecurity
• Remote or isolated work: Physical and psychological isolation

The Legislative Framework in Western Australia

Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA)

The Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) (WHS Act) replaced the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (WA) and represents a significant modernisation of WA's safety framework, aligning it with the national model WHS laws. The Act imposes a primary duty of care on persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health — including psychological health — of workers.

Critically, the definition of "health" under the WHS Act expressly includes psychological health, placing psychological wellbeing on equal footing with physical safety.

Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA)

The 2022 Regulations introduced specific provisions addressing psychosocial risks. Regulation 55D requires PCBUs to manage psychosocial risks using a risk management approach — identify, assess, control, and review. This mirrors the framework applied to physical hazards and signals a clear legislative intent: psychological workplace injury is no longer a secondary concern.

Safe Work Australia Code of Practice

In conjunction with the legislative reforms, Safe Work Australia released the Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work, which provides practical guidance on identifying and controlling psychosocial risks. While codes of practice are not legally binding, they are admissible in WA court and tribunal proceedings as evidence of what is known about a hazard and how it can be managed.

Workers' Compensation for Psychological Injury in WA

Workplace psychological injuries are compensable under the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023 (WA), which replaced the 1981 Act and came into effect on 1 July 2024. This landmark legislative change brought significant reforms to how psychological injury claims are assessed and managed in Western Australia.

Key features relevant to psychological injury claims include:

• Definition of injury: Expressly includes disease, which encompasses psychological conditions arising from employment.
• Reasonable management action defence: Psychological injury resulting from reasonable management action taken in a reasonable manner (such as performance management or disciplinary processes) is generally excluded from compensation.
• Injury management obligations: Employers have duties to develop and implement injury management programs addressing both physical and psychological injury.
• Independent medical examinations: Workers and employers may request independent psychological assessments to assist in claim determination.

The Role of Psychological Assessment in Workplace Injury Claims

When a worker suffers a psychological injury at work — whether from bullying, trauma exposure, burnout, or other psychosocial hazards — a thorough, independent psychological assessment is often central to the claim process.

A medico-legal psychological report prepared for a workplace injury claim typically addresses:

Diagnosis and causation: What psychological condition has the worker developed, and is it causally linked to workplace events? Expert opinion on causation is critical in contested claims and WA tribunal proceedings.

Nature and severity of impairment: How significantly does the psychological condition affect the worker's capacity to work and participate in daily life? Validated psychometric instruments provide objective, defensible evidence.

Reasonable management action: Was the psychological injury caused by unreasonable conduct, or does the reasonable management action exclusion apply? Psychological assessment can provide important context for this determination.

Prognosis and treatment needs: What is the expected trajectory of recovery, and what treatment — including psychological therapy — is required?

Fitness for work and return-to-work capacity: Can the worker return to their pre-injury duties, modified duties, or is there permanent impairment?

At Cygnet Medico-Legal Psychologists, our assessments draw on validated instruments including the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), among others. All reports are prepared in accordance with AHPRA standards and the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Code of Ethics.

What Workers and Employers Should Know

For Workers

If you have suffered a psychological injury at work, you may be entitled to workers' compensation under the Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023 (WA). Seeking an independent psychological assessment early in the process can help document the nature and extent of your injury and support your claim.

Even if your claim is disputed — for example, on the basis of the reasonable management action exclusion — a thorough psychological report can provide essential evidence of the harm suffered and the connection to workplace events.

For Employers and Insurers

The expanded psychosocial hazard obligations under the WHS Act 2020 (WA) and the 2022 Regulations mean that employers who fail to identify and manage psychosocial risks face not only workers' compensation liability but also WHS enforcement action by WorkSafe WA.

Proactive psychosocial risk management — including robust policies, training, and early intervention — is both a legal obligation and sound risk management practice. Independent psychological assessment can assist employers and insurers in understanding the nature of a worker's condition and the appropriate pathway to recovery and return to work.

For Legal Professionals

Psychological injury claims in the WA workers' compensation jurisdiction frequently involve contested questions of causation, diagnosis, and impairment. A well-prepared, evidence-based medico-legal psychological report from an AHPRA-registered psychologist with experience in occupational and forensic psychology can be decisive in WorkCover WA conciliation and arbitration proceedings.

Conclusion

The legislative reforms to workplace health and safety and workers' compensation in Western Australia have elevated the recognition of psychological injury and psychosocial risk to a level commensurate with physical injury. For workers, employers, insurers, and legal professionals navigating these changes, professional psychological assessment and expert reporting have never been more important.

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Cygnet Medico-Legal Psychologists are Perth's leading AHPRA-registered specialists in medico-legal psychological reports, workers' compensation psychological assessments, and occupational psychological evaluations. To discuss a referral or workplace psychological injury assessment, contact our Fremantle office on (08) 9467 6373 or our Midland office on (08) 9467 7676.