Industrial Manslaughter Update

The provision is broadly based on Queensland’s industrial manslaughter offence.  However, the Victorian Bill includes a number of controversial modifications including:

• Exclusion of workers.
• Capturing of workplace practices that “fail to create a culture of compliance”.
• Actions that cause a mental illness that leads to death.
• Negligent conduct or fatalities that occur in other jurisdictions.

A welcome exclusion is that fatalities resulting from “rogue” employees acting outside the scope of their employment cannot be used to prosecute an organisation.

On the 26 November 2019, the WSLA Bill passed Parliament.

The WSLA Bill will now be presented to the Governor for Royal Assent and is expected to come into effect on a day to be proclaimed or, at the latest, 1 July 2020.

Information on the WSLA Bill will soon be available on the WorkSafe website. The WSLA Bill is also available on the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website.