Incident Notification amendments

A number of workplace laws have recently been updated to strengthen the protection of ACT workers’ health, safety and wellbeing.

Key changes to incident notification requirements under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 commenced on 19 November 2025. These amendments clarify and update what incidents must be notified to WorkSafe ACT, and what is required of duty holders when a notifiable incident occurs.

WorkSafe ACT has updated its incident notification form and guidance to reflect these changes. This information is located here.

Access the updated notification form:
Report an incident

What has changed

Clarified threshold for notifiable incidents

A notifiable incident must arise from the conduct of a business or undertaking. This clarification confirms the existing requirement that there must be a clear connection between the work and the incident.

Serious injuries and illnesses

Serious injuries and illnesses requiring notification have been updated and clarified to include incidents where an injury or illness would ordinarily require immediate in‑patient hospital treatment or immediate medical treatment, whether or not treatment is actually sought or available.

Serious injuries or illnesses that must be notified include:

spinal injuries, including a fracture of one or more vertebrae

bone fractures, including fractures of the pelvis, skull or facial bones

other serious bone fractures that ordinarily require treatment, whether or not treatment is sought

serious crush injuries that ordinarily require immediate treatment, whether or not treatment is sought

serious head injuries or illnesses resulting from a significant or repeated blow or knocks or shocks to the head

an injury or illness arising from exposure to a substance where treatment is sought within 48 hours from a registered health practitioner (including a doctor, enrolled nurse, nurse, nurse practitioner or paramedic).

Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) are not expected to make clinical judgements. Injuries that can be treated with basic first aid only are generally not notifiable.

Dangerous incidents

Clarification has been provided about notifiable dangerous incidents that expose a person to an immediate or imminent serious risk to health or safety.

Notifiable dangerous incidents include:

electrical incidents, including electrical explosions or arc flashes

mobile plant incidents that expose a person to serious risk, including mobile plant malfunctions, mobile plant overturns or partially overturns, or where plant normally operated by an operator moves while not under control of the operator

serious falls of a person, including falls from one level to lower level, into holes, trenches, pits or voids, into water, or onto a dangerous surface or object.

Site preservation

The person with management or control of the workplace must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the incident site is preserved until released by a WorkSafe ACT inspector.

This includes preserving evidence of the incident, such as physical items, electronic or digital records and witness details, unless doing so would compromise health and safety or is not reasonably practicable.

Shared workplaces

Where multiple PCBUs have duties in relation to the same workplace, a PCBU with a duty to notify or preserve the site must, so far as reasonably practicable, notify other PCBUs with corresponding duties as soon as they become aware of a notifiable incident.

A notifiable incident only needs to be reported to WorkSafe ACT once. However, all PCBUs retain legal responsibility to ensure notification occurs and obligations are met.

What should workplaces do

PCBUs should review their incident notification and site preservation procedures, ensure workers and supervisors understand when incidents must be notified, and confirm notification arrangements at shared workplaces.

Further information