Under the model Work Health and Safety Regulations, a person conducting a business or undertaking must identify psychosocial hazards, eliminate the risk so far as is reasonably practicable, and where elimination is not possible, minimise the risk using control measures. Since 1 December 2025 these duties have been enforceable in every Australian state and territory. From 1 July 2026, NSW businesses must comply with the approved Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work or demonstrate an equivalent standard.
Regulators expect control measures based on the actual risk profile of the work. Generic statements do not satisfy the duty, and higher-order controls that change the work itself are preferred over controls that ask the worker to cope. For community services and not-for-profits, this means the assessment must address the hazards that arise in your workplace rather than describing workplace stress in the abstract.
Psychosocial hazards specific to community services and not-for-profits
Community services and not-for-profit work concentrates psychosocial risk in the client relationship while removing the resources to manage it. Workers absorb trauma disclosures, crisis and grief as the ordinary content of the job, and vicarious trauma accumulates without an incident to report. Funding structures create a double bind: caseloads exceed capacity because demand is unfunded, and raising it risks the acquittal. Grant cycles produce genuine job insecurity on a rolling basis, which is a recognised psychosocial hazard rather than merely a career inconvenience. Outreach and home-visiting work is frequently done alone, sometimes in volatile circumstances, and mission-driven cultures make workers reluctant to name limits because the need is real and visible.
The 17 psychosocial hazards covered
SafeWize community services kits include a separate risk assessment for each recognised psychosocial hazard, approximately 5 to 6 pages per hazard, with the hazard described in your industry's language, the risk rated, and controls selected and mapped to the hierarchy of controls. The full list is set out on the psychosocial kits page.
What documentation a regulator asks for
In a WHS investigation, documentary evidence determines the outcome. Inspectors typically ask for the psychosocial risk assessment, the control measures selected and their position in the hierarchy of controls, evidence of worker consultation, and records showing controls have been reviewed. A statement that the workplace culture is positive is not a defence and does not appear in an audit trail.
Authoritative sources
The obligations described on this page come from the model WHS Regulations and the psychosocial hazards Code of Practice. The primary sources are published by Safe Work Australia and the state and territory regulators:
Your regulator: SafeWork NSW · WorkSafe Victoria · WorkSafe Queensland · SafeWork SA · WorkSafe WA · WorkSafe Tasmania · WorkSafe ACT · NT WorkSafe · Comcare (Commonwealth)
SafeWize is not a regulator. The kits are compliance documentation, not legal advice. Always check the current requirements with the regulator in your jurisdiction.
