Indexation of penalty amounts under the WHS Act

As of 1 July 2024, the penalties for breaches of the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) have increased under a new indexation mechanism. The indexation provisions were inserted into the WHS Act by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023.

The indexation provisions increase all WHS Act penalty amounts annually by reference to the Consumer Price Index. The monetary penalties increased by more than 10 per cent from 1 July 2024.

The new maximum penalty amounts for a body corporate for the Categories 1 to 3 offences are:

• Category 1: $16.63 million (up from $15 million on 30 June 2024)
• Category 2: $2.32 million (up from $2.09 million on 30 June 2024)
• Category 3: $776,000 (up from $700,000 on 30 June 2024)

The WHS Act now refers to all monetary penalties in terms of three separate types, under amendments that came into effect in December 2023:

• Categories 1 to 3 (for the penalties under sections 31 to 33 of the WHS Act)
• Tiers A to I (for all other criminal penalties under the WHS Act)
• WHS civil penalty tiers 1 to 4 (for all WHS civil penalty provisions)

More information

Go to WHS Laws are changing