New South Wales has become the first Australian jurisdiction to legislate workplace health and safety duties covering digital work systems, with the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Digital Work Systems) Bill 2025 passing NSW Parliament late last night following last-minute amendments.

The legislation, introduced in November, requires persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to ensure that the health and safety of workers is not put at risk from the allocation of work by a digital work system — defined as “an algorithm, artificial intelligence, automation or online platform.”

Introducing the Bill to the Legislative Assembly, NSW Work Health and Safety Minister Sophie Cotsis described it as aimed at protecting the “safety and dignity of workers in the digital age.” She told Parliament the legislation is “simple” at its heart: ensuring workers operating under digital systems have the same rights as all other workers.

“If PCBUs delegate tasks to an algorithm which creates harm, the Bill clarifies that managers are responsible for the human impact,” Cotsis said. “That is crucial to the expanding cohort of gig workers.”

The Minister cited food delivery riders as a key example, noting that “the pressure of near-constant, unreasonable directions adds to the potential for injury or death,” and that warehouse workers “are losing their meal and toilet breaks to keep up with pick rates.”

Under the new laws, PCBUs must consider whether their digital systems create or result in excessive or unreasonable workloads, excessive performance metrics, unreasonable monitoring or surveillance of workers, or unlawful discriminatory decision-making. PCBUs must also provide WHS entry permit holders — typically union officials — with reasonable assistance to access and inspect digital work systems relevant to a suspected contravention.

The Bill’s passage came after the Upper House passed several amendments in the afternoon, with the Legislative Assembly agreeing to the changes at around 10pm. The most significant amendment requires entry permit holders to give a PCBU at least 48 hours’ notice, but no more than 14 days’ notice, before requiring access to a digital system for inspection. This is a departure from standard WHS entry provisions, under which permit holders are not required to give notice until “as soon as is reasonably practicable after entering” the workplace.

A further amendment prevents the new entry provisions from taking effect until one month after SafeWork NSW finalises guidelines that entry permit holders must follow when accessing digital systems. SafeWork’s drafting process must include a public consultation phase and the regulator is required to consider all feedback received.

An additional review requirement will compel the Minister to identify any adverse outcomes from the legislation 12 months after commencement. The laws will also be subject to review if Safe Work Australia makes changes to the national model WHS Act dealing with substantially the same subject matter, with NSW required to align its duties if the national standard provides an equivalent or higher level of protection for workers.

The amendments were made in part to address concerns raised by business stakeholders. NSW Shadow Treasurer Scott Farlow had warned the right-of-entry provisions would give union officials “unprecedented new powers” to access confidential business information, including payroll systems, rostering software, email platforms, performance management tools, customer databases, and point-of-sale systems.

Cotsis reassured PCBUs that existing safeguards would protect sensitive commercial information, including provisions allowing businesses to withhold access where doing so would contravene other laws, and prohibiting the unauthorised use or disclosure of any information obtained by an entry permit holder during an inspection.

Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey welcomed the legislation’s passage, describing it as a “breakthrough for hundreds of thousands of workers.” He said the laws address critical health and safety gaps identified through parliamentary inquiries, particularly around work intensification and psychological risks linked to automated decision-making.

“These laws ensure that when an algorithm decides your hours, your pay, or your pace of work, there are clear rules and real human oversight to prevent harm,” Morey said. “Technology should serve the workforce rather than exploiting it.”