The Latest on the New Reforms
An Introduction
Recent changes made to both WHS and workers’ compensation laws
In March 2025, the NSW Treasurer announced that the NSW government would be passing reforms which would:
“recognise that our workplace health and safety and workers' compensation laws are failing to both prevent psychological injuries – and failing to treat those with psychological injuries quickly.”
Those reforms consisted of changes to NSW’s workers’ compensation and WHS laws.
In his announcement, the Treasurer advised that the number of psychological claims had doubled in six years yet, by comparison, all other injuries grew by just 16% in the same period.
As he stated in his media release,
“A system that approaches all psychological workplace hazards the same way as physical dangers, needs to change.
NSW should have workplace health and safety laws, as well as a workers compensation system, that places prevention ahead of compensation to responding to psychological safety. . . give workers the right to call out a psychological hazard before an injury takes place”
This month’s articles
In relation to the workers’ compensation system, the laws have been totally recast, drastically tightening up the ability for a worker to claim workers’ compensation for a psychological injury.
This month’s articles will explain what we already know about the new laws as they relate to an entitlement to compensation in the first place, namely:
These laws have not yet commenced and will not apply to your workplace until a commencement date has been announced, then the news laws will apply from their commencement date. However, we are letting you know what we currently know about these new laws for two reasons.
Reason #1 – similarity to psychosocial hazards
They are very similar to the types of psychosocial hazards and may help you better understand how to manage your psychosocial hazards.
Please note – Business NSW does not yet know whether these definitions will be adopted by the WHS laws or are only applicable for workers’ compensation purposes.
Reason #2 – we need your feedback
Given how drastically the laws have changed, the NSW Government recognises that icare needs time to put operational measures in place to adapt their business processes to meet the new statutory requirements.
It is important for NSW businesses to understand what the new requirements will be so they can adapt their own business processes.
Business NSW sits on icare’s working group for this exercise, so any feedback about how icare’s new business processes will work best for NSW businesses (compared with how the system currently works) will be gratefully received and passed on.