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Guide 01 of 05 · Queensland · Victoria

Notifiable incidents at work in Queensland and Victoria

In Queensland and Victoria, an incident the law lists, such as a death, a serious injury or a dangerous exposure at work, must be reported to the regulator immediately after the business becomes aware of it, and the site left as it was until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise. Both states still allow some action, among them helping an injured person and essential action to make the site safe; each state’s full list is below. A written record follows within 48 hours: always in Victoria, and in Queensland if the regulator asks for one.

  1. Nowtell the regulator
  2. Untouchedthe site, until an inspector arrives or directs; some action, such as helping the injured, is allowed
  3. 48 hthe written follow-up
  4. 5 yearskeep the record

General information about Queensland and Victorian law, not legal advice. The official places to check are Queensland’s Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and WorkSafe Victoria.

01 · what countsQueensland’s three kinds of notifiable incident

Queensland’s Work Health and Safety Act 2011, in its version current at 3 August 2026, defines a notifiable incident in section 35 as “the death of a person”, “a serious injury or illness of a person” or “a dangerous incident”. The next two sections define the second and third, and both lists are printed here whole.

Section 36 · serious injury or illness

“An injury or illness requiring the person to have”:

  1. “immediate treatment as an in-patient in a hospital”
  2. “immediate treatment for”:
    • “the amputation of any part of his or her body”
    • “a serious head injury”
    • “a serious eye injury”
    • “a serious burn”
    • “the separation of his or her skin from an underlying tissue (for example, degloving or scalping)”
    • “a spinal injury”
    • “the loss of a bodily function”
    • “serious lacerations”
  3. “medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance”

It “includes any other injury or illness prescribed under a regulation but does not include an illness or injury of a prescribed kind.”

Section 37 · dangerous incident

An incident in relation to a workplace that “exposes a worker or any other person to a serious risk to a person’s health or safety emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to”:

  1. “an uncontrolled escape, spillage or leakage of a substance”
  2. “an uncontrolled implosion, explosion or fire”
  3. “an uncontrolled escape of gas or steam”
  4. “an uncontrolled escape of a pressurised substance”
  5. “electric shock”
  6. “the fall or release from a height of any plant, substance or thing”
  7. “the collapse, overturning, failure or malfunction of, or damage to, any plant that is required to be authorised for use under a regulation”
  8. “the collapse or partial collapse of a structure”
  9. “the collapse or failure of an excavation or of any shoring supporting an excavation”
  10. “the inrush of water, mud or gas in workings, in an underground excavation or tunnel”
  11. “the interruption of the main system of ventilation in an underground excavation or tunnel”
  12. “any other event prescribed under a regulation”

It “does not include an incident of a prescribed kind.”

02 · the neighbourVictoria’s list is close, not the same

Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 lists its incidents in section 37: a death; medical treatment needed within 48 hours of exposure to a substance; immediate treatment needed as a hospital in-patient; or immediate medical treatment needed for one of eight injuries, which are amputation, a serious head injury, a serious eye injury, separation of skin from the tissue beneath it, electric shock, a spinal injury, loss of a bodily function and serious lacerations. Electric shock is on that injury list and a serious burn is not. Section 37(2) adds serious risks from an immediate or imminent exposure to hazards close to Queensland’s, among them an uncontrolled escape, spill or leak of any substance and an implosion, explosion or fire (the Act has the full list); regulations can add to both lists or exclude kinds of incident.

Victoria also has an exception that Queensland’s section 38 does not contain: an employer or self-employed person who is the only person injured, harmed or exposed to risk need not notify, though WorkSafe Victoria encourages a report anyway. WorkSafe Victoria notes new obligations, and new kinds of plant and equipment to notify, from 1 July 2024.

03 · the clockFrom the first call to the five-year record

  1. ImmediatelyIn Queensland, the person conducting the business or undertaking “must ensure that the regulator is notified immediately after becoming aware that a notifiable incident arising out of the conduct of the business or undertaking has occurred”, “by the fastest possible means”, by telephone or in writing (s 38; maximum 100 penalty units). For a body corporate, the Act applies section 181B of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 to its maximum penalties; that section is not set out here. In Victoria, the employer or self-employed person must notify the regulator immediately after becoming aware of an incident at a workplace they manage and control, unless there is a reasonable excuse (s 38; maximum 240 penalty units for a natural person, 1,200 for a body corporate). Where it is unclear whether an incident is notifiable, WorkSafe Victoria’s advice is to report it anyway.
  2. Until an inspector arrivesIn Queensland, the person with management or control of the workplace “must ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, that the site where the incident occurred is not disturbed until an inspector arrives at the site or any earlier time that an inspector directs” (s 39). The site “includes any plant, substance, structure or thing associated with the notifiable incident”. The duty does not prevent any action “to assist an injured person”, “to remove a deceased person”, “that is essential to make the site safe or to minimise the risk of a further notifiable incident”, “that is associated with a police investigation”, or “for which an inspector or the regulator has given permission”. In Victoria, the employer or self-employed person who must notify keeps the site undisturbed until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise, unless there is a reasonable excuse, and it may be disturbed to protect a person’s health or safety, to help an injured person involved in the incident, or to take essential action to make the site safe or to stop any further incident occurring (s 39).
  3. 48 hoursIn Queensland, after a telephone notice, the business must, “if required by the regulator, give a written notice of the incident within 48 hours of that requirement being made” (s 38(4)). In Victoria a written record always follows, within 48 hours after being required to notify, in the form the regulator has approved (s 38(3)).
  4. 5 yearsIn Queensland, the business must “keep a record of each notifiable incident for at least 5 years from the day that notice of the incident is given to the regulator” (s 38(7); 50 penalty units). In Victoria, the copy is kept for at least 5 years and made available to an inspector; to a person injured or put at serious risk by the incident, or their representative; to a representative of a person it killed; and, for an employer, to the health and safety representative of any designated work group its employees belong to and the members of each health and safety committee it has set up (s 38(4)).

04 · what is comingThe model law has moved; Queensland’s Act has not yet

Safe Work Australia has published amendments to the model WHS Act that “expand notification duties”, among them to “serious brain injuries, serious crush injuries and serious bone fractures”, to “work-related suicide or attempted suicide of a worker, and the suicide or attempted suicide of other persons in specific settings”, as well as to “a worker’s absence period (or likely absence period) of 15 or more consecutive calendar days due to work-related psychological or physical injury or illness.” Safe Work Australia’s page has the full list.

A model law is not the law of a state. Safe Work Australia says “The changes will only apply once they are adopted under local WHS laws”, and that “each jurisdiction will determine its own implementation timeline”. Queensland’s Act, in the version current at 3 August 2026 printed above, does not contain them: an absence of 15 or more days, for one, is not among its serious injuries or illnesses. Safe Work Australia’s own advice is direct: “Employers must check with their local WHS regulator before making changes to notification systems or reporting practices.”

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