The long-awaited final report of the Best Practice Review of the model Work Health and Safety laws has been released, charting a course for the most significant overhaul of Australia’s national WHS framework in more than a decade.

Published by Safe Work Australia on 19 October 2026, the report presents recommendations aimed at strengthening harmonisation across states and territories, modernising the compliance and enforcement framework, and addressing emerging workplace hazards such as digital work, artificial intelligence, and climate-related risks.

Among the headline recommendations is the creation of an annual national WHS scorecard — a publicly accessible document that would identify where individual states and territories have departed from the nationally agreed model laws. Jurisdictions that maintain variations would be required to publish reasons for doing so, increasing transparency and applying pressure on governments that have been slow to adopt nationally agreed amendments.

The review also recommends that nationally agreed amendments be given priority in state and territory parliamentary schedules. Delays in adoption have been a persistent frustration for industry and safety advocates alike, creating a patchwork of rules that complicate compliance for businesses operating across borders.

A new National Compliance and Enforcement Policy (NCEP) is also recommended, after the review found that the current policy “appears not to have been operating as such.” The consultation process also revealed strong views on extending WHS protections to cover harassment and discrimination as explicit workplace hazards. Safe Work Australia is seeking feedback on the recommendations, with a formal government response expected in the first quarter of 2027.