New VIC Psychosocial Regulations – What You Need to Know

There’s been a seismic shift in how psychosocial hazards are being approached across Australia—and VIC is finally catching up.

The VIC Government has confirmed the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Psychological Health) Regulations will be implemented from 1 December 2025, with final wording due in October. These changes will significantly strengthen the existing OHS Act when it comes to mental health in the workplace.

Clayton Utz has done a superb job of summarising the upcoming regulations, and this newsletter draws heavily on their insights. (Full credit to their brilliant team for the original article.)

So, what’s new?

VIC employers already have a duty to provide a psychologically safe workplace, but these new regulations will codify those expectations and make the obligations far more explicit. Employers will be required to:

• Identify and assess psychosocial hazards (e.g., bullying, aggression, role overload, low control)

• Implement control measures to reduce risk

• Develop written prevention plans for specific risks like bullying or occupational violence

• Train managers and HR in psychosocial risk management

• Review and update controls regularly

VIC’s regulators are also hinting at lighter reporting requirements than originally drafted, but they’re still nudging employers to adopt a psychosocial risk framework (strongly encouraged, if not mandated).

How does VIC compare to the rest of Australia?

VIC is the last state to introduce formal regulations specific to psychosocial hazards. Other jurisdictions have been operating under the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws, supported by a national Code of Practice for Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work.

The key differences?

• VIC is going further in prescriptive detail than other states.

• Written prevention plans are not required in most WHS jurisdictions—VIC will make them mandatory.

• In other states, psychosocial risks are usually embedded within broader safety frameworks. VIC is carving them out as standalone obligations.

This means that VIC’s approach may set a new benchmark nationally—but with higher expectations for employers.

One Head Office ≠ One Rulebook

A critical point often overlooked: if your business operates in more than one state, your teams are governed by that state’s legislation, not just the laws where your head office is located.

That means a company headquartered in Melbourne with staff in Brisbane and Perth needs to comply with each state’s unique regulatory requirements. No shortcuts.

The Takeaway

VIC’s pending changes are a wake-up call for leaders. The spotlight is now firmly on the psychological safety of teams, and rightly so. While compliance is the minimum bar, the opportunity is in performance uplift through deeper care, awareness and proactive leadership.

If you're not sure how ready your organisation is—or how your leaders might navigate this—we should talk.

Helping employees know they matter, by helping leaders show they care. That’s what I do.