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 WHS Act section 14 do?
Section 14, headed "Duties not transferrable", states in a single sentence that a duty cannot be transferred to another person. It sits in the principles that apply to duties, next to section 15 (a person may have more than one duty) and section 16 (more than one person can concurrently have the same duty, and each must discharge it to the standard the Act requires). Read the current compilation on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Who does it bind?
Every duty holder under the Commonwealth Act, which applies in the Comcare jurisdiction. The provision mirrors the model WHS laws as adopted in most jurisdictions, Victoria excepted; the verified text here is the Commonwealth version.
What do practitioners get wrong?
Reading section 14 as a ban on outsourcing, or assuming a contract clause can shift a WHS duty to a vendor. Neither is right. Work and functions can be contracted out; the duty cannot. The contractor picks up its own duties, and under section 16 each duty holder retains responsibility and must discharge the shared duty to the Act's standard.
Where does AI use touch it?
Procuring an AI system is a transfer of work, never a transfer of duty. Vendor assurances do not discharge anything. See the contractor AI safety pack and the safety chatbot answer authority ledger for keeping accountability where section 14 leaves it.
Bottom line
Section 14 is one sentence with long reach: whatever you outsource, license or automate, your work health and safety duties stay yours.
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