A police operation has uncovered individuals allegedly seeking fraudulent qualification certificates in workplace safety competencies. WorkSafe Victoria has confirmed it is investigating potential health and safety breaches as a result.
The qualifications at the centre of the investigation cover three areas: first aid, implementing traffic management plans, and working safely at heights — all practical, on-the-ground skills where competency directly affects the safety of the person holding the certificate and everyone working alongside them.
WorkSafe made clear on 13 October 2026 that these types of qualifications are not a legal requirement under Victorian occupational health and safety laws, and they are separate from the high-risk work licences (HRWLs) the regulator issues and regulates directly. But their absence from the licensing framework doesn’t make them inconsequential.
“Fraudulent qualifications could pose a health and safety risk if a duty holder relies on them as evidence of skills in a particular area that they do not actually have,” WorkSafe said. If an employer hires someone they believe can safely manage traffic or respond to a first aid emergency, and that belief is based on a fake document, they are exposing their workers — and the public — to risks they cannot see.
WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin was unambiguous about where responsibility sits: “WorkSafe will take compliance or enforcement action against anyone who puts their co-workers or others in a workplace at risk by working in an area they have knowingly and fraudulently obtained false qualifications for.”
The regulator noted it has limitations in what legal action it can take in relation to the fraud itself — that sits with Victoria Police — but it can and will act where the fraudulent qualifications create workplace safety risks within its jurisdiction.
Alongside its investigation, WorkSafe has issued a safety alert reminding employers that they have a duty to verify the qualifications their workers hold, not merely accept them at face value. That means checking credentials with the relevant Registered Training Organisation, not just accepting a certificate.
For any employer who discovered they may have hired someone on the basis of falsified documents, the regulator advises reporting suspected fraudulent activity to Victoria Police.
The incident raises a broader question for the industry: how often are qualifications genuinely verified, and how much trust is placed in documents that no one independently checks?
