Psychosocial Hazards Code of Practice 2024

Verified against the current authoritative text on 12 September 2026 by the editorial team at TheAICommand.

This page is an educational summary for professionals working with AI. It is not the law and not legal advice. Always work from the current authoritative text linked below.

What does the code do?

It sets out how to manage psychosocial hazards at work, from identifying them through to controlling and reviewing them. The Minister approved it on 27 October 2024 under section 274 of the WHS Act 2011, and it was registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 1 November 2024, commencing the day after registration. Its hazard list runs from job demands, fatigue and low job control through to poor organisational justice, traumatic material, remote or isolated work and intrusive surveillance.

Who does it bind?

Every duty holder under the model WHS laws as applied in the Commonwealth jurisdiction. Section 274(2) required consultation between governments, unions and employer organisations before the Minister could approve it.

What do practitioners get wrong?

Reading "code of practice" as "optional". Section 275 makes it admissible as evidence of compliance, and lets a court rely on it to decide what was reasonably practicable. Subsection 275(4) allows a different approach only where the standard is equivalent or higher.

Where does AI use touch it?

Directly, in two hazard entries. Intrusive surveillance names keyboard trackers, remote screenshots and performance-purpose GPS monitoring. Low job control names tightly scripted or machine paced work and excessive monitoring of tasks and breaks. Deploying those tools engages a named hazard. See AI-assisted psychosocial risk assessment and regulations 55A to 55D.

Bottom line

The code is evidence, not merely advice. If an AI monitoring tool matches a hazard the code names, the control expectation is already written down.

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Frequently asked questions

Is an approved code of practice the law?

Not directly, and not merely optional either. Section 275 of the WHS Act 2011 makes an approved code admissible in a proceeding for an offence as evidence of whether a duty has been complied with, and allows the court to rely on it in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances the code covers.

Can a business do something different from the code?

Yes, on one condition. Subsection 275(4) preserves the right to introduce evidence of compliance in a manner different from the code, but only where that manner provides a standard of work health and safety equivalent to or higher than the standard the code requires. A cheaper or lighter approach does not qualify.

Does the code name AI or worker monitoring as a hazard?

It names the practices rather than the technology. Intrusive surveillance is listed as a psychosocial hazard, with examples including keyboard activity trackers, technology allowing remote access and screenshots of a worker's computer, and GPS monitoring of movement for performance purposes as opposed to safety reasons.

Does this code apply outside the Commonwealth jurisdiction?

This instrument is the Commonwealth one, made under the Commonwealth WHS Act. The model WHS laws are applied separately in each state and territory, and each jurisdiction approves its own codes, so the applicable code for a workplace depends on which WHS regulator covers it.

What is the Psychosocial Hazards Code of Practice 2024?