Responsive Sentencing

Project status: Complete

How are legal WHS orders used in Australia and what impact do they have on compliance?

The guide for regulators in the use of non-monetary orders can be found here

The Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws specify the orders that courts may impose on WHS offenders as a part of sentencing.

These orders aren’t just limited to fines, they also include enforceable adverse publicity, restoration, specified WHS projects, training, and their subsequent release upon the giving of a WHS undertaking.

The use of these orders offers a range of benefits including increased awareness of WHS requirements, skill building, and repair of inflicted harms. Despite these benefits, orders were being used infrequently in WHS sentencing.

This led to questions regarding the potential impact non-monetary orders could have and when they should be raised by a court.

Reshaping the face of WHS sentencing

This project gathered evidence informing when and how non-monetary orders have been applied with a view to set out relevant considerations for WHS regulators wanting to make sentencing submissions to the courts.

The research highlighted the limitations and benefits of non-monetary orders, with particular consideration for the lack of validation and best practice guidance to support a consistent, evidence-based use of them.

We were able to establish the unique role held by WHS Regulators, who are encouraged to advocate for these orders in providing advice to courts on sentencing and the likely effects they might have on WHS outcomes.

The results and advice of this research has now aided in the sentencing of multiple WHS orders in NSW courts, creating better consideration for the potential impacts of non-monetary sentencing.

The guide for regulators in the use of non-monetary orders is available for use now.

Further reading

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