If a customer threatens one of your staff tomorrow, would your safety system actually protect them? Or would it only provide a paper trail after the fact?
The law has shifted quietly, and most business owners still don’t realise it.
If you employ staff who face the public, whether in retail, healthcare, hospitality, councils, or any frontline role, you now have a legal duty to manage aggression and violence toward them.
Not a “should.” A duty. The same legal obligation as managing a faulty machine or a fall risk.
What changed?
At the end of 2025, every state and territory finalised the inclusion of aggression and violence under the psychosocial hazard rules.
Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 took effect on 1 December 2025, requiring employers to:
- Identify psychosocial hazards and risks
- Control risks associated with those hazards
- Review and revise risk control measures
The model WHS laws were also amended to ensure serious psychosocial events, including workplace violence and sexual assault, must now be formally reported. The amendments ensure regulators have “better visibility of serious incidents and that WHS laws reflect the full range of physical and psychological risks in modern workplaces”.
What this means for your business
Psychosocial hazards are defined as including “aggression or violence, bullying, exposure to traumatic events or content, high job demands”. Employers now owe “specific duties to their employees to identify psychosocial hazards, control any risks associated with psychosocial hazards, and review and revise risk control measures”.
Here’s the part that catches businesses out: a policy sitting in a folder doesn’t count.
SafeWork SA makes it clear that managing psychosocial hazards “should not just be a legal duty, it should be the core of every business who cares for its workers and wants the best success”.
Regulators expect to see that you have:
- Identified the risks in your specific workplace
- Consulted your team about those risks
- Put real controls in place, not just paperwork
The cost of complacency
The question isn’t whether a violent incident will occur. It’s whether you’ll be ready when it does.
Your next steps
- Review your psychosocial hazard controls: don’t assume they’re adequate
- Talk to your frontline team: they know the real risks better than anyone
- Ensure your safety system works in practice: not just on paper
Sources
- WorkSafe Victoria – Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025
- WorkSafe Victoria – employers’ duty to provide a safe working environment
- Safe Work Australia – Model Work Health and Safety Legislation Amendment (Incident Notification) 2025
- SafeWork SA – managing psychosocial risks
- Australian Sign and Graphics Association – summary of new workplace safety laws
- HWLE Lawyers – employer duties for psychosocial hazards
