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Western Australian version of Work Health and Safety Bill introduced into Spring Parliament

WAparliamentA Western Australian version of the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) bill will be introduced into the current spring session of Western Australian State Parliament and will be open for public comment until the end of this year.

According to the WA Department of Commerce, the bill will be based on the model WHS bill developed by Safe Work Australia for adoption by states and territories to harmonise occupational safety and health legislation across Australia.

WA’s Minister for Commerce, Michael Mischin, has advised Parliament that the green bill will contain the core principles contained in the model WHS bill but will have some minor modifications to suit the Western Australian working environment.

A statement issued by Mr Mischin’s office says, “At the time the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulations were developed a national Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was created by Safe Work Australia.  An examination of that RIS showed that it did not contain adequate Western Australian specific content to demonstrate that there were sufficient benefits to be delivered by the model WHS Regulations to offset any costs that would be associated with the adoption of those laws,”

“Consequently a Western Australian specific RIS process on the model WHS Regulations was undertaken by independent consulting firm Marsden Jacob Associates.”

The Western Australian RIS is now available on WorkSafe’s website and is open for comment.

There is no exact date yet for the introduction of the green bill into Parliament, however, it will be made available on the WorkSafe website as soon as it is released.

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