A psychosocial risk assessment is now a practical necessity for every Australian employer, and the difference between one done well and one done poorly is the difference between prevention and paperwork. This page explains what the process involves, what the law requires in each jurisdiction, and how Safetysure’s consultants deliver assessments that change how work is done. Call 1300 087 888 to scope yours.
What is a psychosocial risk assessment?
A psychosocial risk assessment is a structured process for determining the likelihood and severity of psychological harm arising from workplace hazards such as excessive job demands, low job control, poor support, bullying and harassment, exposure to traumatic events, badly managed change, and the other hazard categories defined in WHS regulation. The model Code of Practice published by Safe Work Australia describes fourteen common psychosocial hazards; the Commonwealth Code of Practice 2024 identifies seventeen, adding fatigue, intrusive surveillance, and job insecurity for Commonwealth workplaces. The precise list depends on your jurisdiction, which is one of several reasons generic national templates typically underperform from a compliance perspective.
Two clarifications can save buyers considerable confusion. First, a psychosocial risk assessment typically examines the work, not the worker – it is not a psychological assessment of individuals, and it gathers no personal medical information. Second, an assessment is step two of a four-step legal duty. Identification comes before it, control comes after it, and review closes the loop. An engagement that ends when the survey results arrive has stopped halfway, a point Australia’s regulators make themselves in documents like Comcare’s guidance on psychosocial risk assessment tools states plainly that assessment tools alone are not sufficient to manage these risks.
Is a psychosocial risk assessment legally required?
In effect, yes, everywhere in Australia. Duty holders in every jurisdiction are required to identify psychosocial hazards and eliminate or minimise the risks so far as is reasonably practicable, which cannot be demonstrated without assessment. The detail differs by capital city, and the differences are material.
In Queensland, the regulation has applied since April 2023 and the hierarchy of controls applies to psychosocial risks. Codes of practice carry mandatory force unless an equivalent or better standard is demonstrated, and employers must also maintain a written sexual and gender-based harassment prevention plan. In New South Wales, the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 routes psychosocial risk management through the general risk management framework and its hierarchy of controls, and from 1 July 2026 NSW codes of practice move to the Queensland model. In Victoria, the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations commenced on 1 December 2025 with their own control hierarchy, including strict limits on using training and information as controls. Safetysure’s psychosocial risk management guide sets out the full framework in detail.
The enforcement context has hardened alongside the law. Safe Work Australia’s 2025 statistics record 17,600 serious mental health claims in a single year, up 161 per cent over the decade, with median compensation more than four times the all-claims figure. Regulators have responded with psychosocial improvement notices at scale, prohibition notices halting restructures, and prosecutions. Our analysis of the national claims data is available in Mental health workplace claims Australia: 2025 statistics.
The four-step process a compliant assessment sits within
Step one – identify hazards
Through worker consultation, validated survey instruments, review of complaints, incident, absence, and turnover data, and structured examination of how work is designed, managed, and experienced. Consultation is not optional; the duty requires it, and the workers who do the work are the primary evidence source.
Step two – assess the risks
Evaluating the duration, frequency, and severity of exposure, and critically, how hazards interact and combine: a moderate workload issue combined with poor support and job insecurity is a different risk from any of the three alone. This is where psychosocial assessment departs from conventional risk matrices and where methodological competence matters most.
Step three – control the risks
The step that discharges the duty. Controls must address the design and management of work: workload and resourcing, role clarity, support structures, the conduct of organisational change, and the management of high-exposure roles. Policies and training are supplementary controls; in Victoria they cannot lawfully be the primary ones.
Step four – review
Measuring whether exposure actually reduced, against the same indicators used at identification, and reassessing when work changes, when incidents occur, or when the data says controls are not working.
How Safetysure conducts a psychosocial risk assessment
Safetysure’s consultants assess psychosocial risk using a combination of methods scaled to the organisation’s needs. These include validated psychosocial survey instruments, structured worker interviews, review of job descriptions and work design, scenario analysis for high-exposure roles, occupational risk profiling, and analysis of your existing data: complaints, claims, absence, and turnover patterns. Every legislative reference in our assessments is verified against the current law of your jurisdiction, and multi-state organisations receive jurisdiction-specific findings rather than a national average.
What distinguishes the deliverable is discipline at steps three and four. You receive a prioritised risk register that separates genuine hazards from control failures rather than inflating both into an unmanageable list. Alongside it sit a control plan that reaches work design with named owners and review dates, a board-ready report aligned with officer due diligence obligations, and a review framework with the indicators that will show whether risk reduced. If your organisation needs ongoing support, our psychosocial health consultants work through implementation, prevention plan development, and review cycles.
Why Safetysure
Safetysure is an ISO 9001, ISO 45001, and ISO 14001 accredited WHS and occupational hygiene consultancy headquartered in Brisbane and serving Sydney, Melbourne, and the Asia-Pacific, led by a principal consultant with more than three decades of safety practice across mining, defence, manufacturing, and government. Our psychosocial practice is evidence-led: methods grounded in the intervention research, statutory citations verified before they reach your report, and a standing refusal to sell measurement as though it were risk management.
Scope your psychosocial risk assessment today. Call 1300 087 888 or email admin@safetysure.com.au and a consultant will contact you to discuss your organisation, your jurisdictions, and your risk profile.
Frequently asked questions
Is a psychosocial risk assessment mandatory in Australia?
Effectively yes. All Australian jurisdictions require duty holders to identify psychosocial hazards and eliminate or minimise the risks so far as is reasonably practicable, which requires assessment to demonstrate. Queensland, NSW, and Victoria prescribe the process in regulation, with Queensland additionally requiring a written sexual and gender-based harassment prevention plan.
How often should a psychosocial risk assessment be done?
Review is a continuing duty, not a calendar event. Reassess when work changes materially (restructures, new systems, significant growth), after notifiable incidents or complaint clusters, when monitoring data shows controls are not reducing exposure, and otherwise on a planned cycle, with annual review a sound default for most organisations.
What is the difference between a psychosocial and a psychological risk assessment?
A psychosocial risk assessment examines aspects of work that can cause harm: demands, support, justice, change, and behaviours. A psychological risk assessment evaluates an individual person, typically in a clinical context. Only the first discharges an employer’s WHS duty, and it collects no personal medical information.
Is a survey tool like People at Work enough on its own?
No. Validated survey tools are valuable identification instruments, and regulator guidance is explicit that assessment tools alone are not sufficient to manage psychosocial risks. The duty is discharged at the control and review steps: what changed in the work, and did exposure reduce.
Who should conduct the assessment, internal staff or a consultant?
Smaller, lower-risk organisations can often self-assess using regulator tools and the codes of practice. External assessment earns its cost where exposure is high, where claims or notices have emerged, where multiple jurisdictions are involved, or where workers are more likely to speak candidly to an independent assessor than through internal channels.
You might like to read our in-depth article on Regulating Psychosocial Health at Work
or Changes to NSW Regulations 2026 which included upcoming changes to psychosocial health obligations.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Requirements differ by jurisdiction and change over time.