Workplace Protection Orders: FAQs
Introduction
On Tuesday 20 October, the NSW Government introduced proposed new laws (it is not law yet), called the Workplace Protections Order Bill 2026.
It is designed to sit alongside the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 (‘the WHS Act’) and adopts the following definitions from the WHS Act:
Employer organisation.
Health & Safety Representative.
PCBU.
Union.
Worker.
Workplace.
This article explains what the NSW Government wants the new laws to cover.
Important points to note
The proposed laws have to be considered and debated by the NSW parliament before they can be passed. If, during this process, there are any changes, we will update this page.
Even after the new laws have been passed, the new laws won’t commence straight away. The start date is yet to be announced.
FAQs
The order - what is a workplace protection order (a ‘WPO’)?
It is a court order that can either:
prevent someone from having access, or
impose restrictions on a person in relation to access
to premises or a place named in the order.
The workplace - which workplaces will these new laws apply to?
At the moment, it is proposed that the new laws will only apply to retail workplaces.[1]
The workplace - what is a ‘retail workplace’?
Under these new laws, a “retail workplace”:
means - a workplace in which goods are sold, offered or exposed for sale, by retail, and
includes - the sale of goods by auction.
The workplace - what about other types of workplaces?
These new laws do contain a mechanism to allow for other types of public-facing workplaces to be added later on.
The level of protection - what kind of behaviour will a WPO protect against?
There is a long list of behaviours that these new laws are designed to protect retail workers against.
They are[2]:
Assault and other action against retail workers - such as throwing a missile, stalking, harassing or intimidating a retail worker either with or without actual bodily harm.
Specific types of harassment - relating to whether the person is living with HIV/AIDS, or in relation to race, religion, homosexuality, transgender status or disability of the worker.
Stalking or intimidation with intent to cause fear of physical or mental harm.
A ‘personal violence offence’ against a worker or class of workers - this covers a multitude of crimes ranging from documents containing threats, threatening to distribute intimate images, having explosive and/or corrosive substances, having firearms, causing a dog to inflict grievous bodily harm through to sexual offences and murder.
The level of protection - who can the order be made against?
An order can only be made against an individual who is:
not - another worker, and
not - a child under the age of 14 years.
The level of protection - who will be protected?
It is proposed that either an individual worker or a class of workers (who are all subject to the behaviour complained of by the same individual) will be protected.
The level of protection - is this the only remedy available to a worker in a retail workplace?
No, this remedy is designed to complement NSW’s criminal legal system. If you or anyone else is being subjected to this type of behaviour, don’t hesitate to call security and/or the police.
The level of protection - who will these new laws protect?
These new laws are designed to protect either an individual worker or a class of workers who are being subjected to certain types of behaviour by the one individual (who is not a child under the age of 14 years or another worker at the same workplace).
The applicant - who will be able to apply for a workplace protection order?
An application can only be made by:
A PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking),
An employer organisation for the class of workplace to which the application relates - but only with the written authorisation of the PCBU at the workplace,
A health & safety representative (HSR) - but only with the written authorisation of the worker who is a member of the work group that the HSR represents, or
A union - but only with the written authorisation of the worker or a member of the class of workers:
sought to be protected, and
entitled to be represented by the union, and
against ‘the same defendant’.
[1] Section 6 of the Bill
[2] Section 12 of the Bill