What changed
Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 commenced on 1 December 2025. Employers must identify psychosocial hazards, eliminate or reduce associated risks so far as reasonably practicable, and review and revise controls in prescribed circumstances. WorkSafe has published a Psychological Health Compliance Code to support implementation.
Why it matters to recovery workforces
WorkSafe identifies hazards including aggression, bullying and exposure to traumatic events or content. For councils and emergency organisations, a useful practical question is how those exposures interact with the organisation of recovery work.
Questions for workplace practice
Teams could examine workload allocation, role clarity, escalation pathways and access to supervision during periods of sustained demand. These are prompts for consultation and risk assessment; the appropriate controls depend on the hazards and work context.
Read the requirements in context
This is a plain-language policy summary, not a compliance assessment. The employer-focused duties described here should not be assumed to apply identically to every volunteer arrangement. Consult the regulations and current WorkSafe guidance for the relevant circumstances.
Practice questions are editorial interpretations of the official source. They are not evaluated interventions.