SafeWork NSW Has Named Psychosocial Risk a Top Priority for 2026-27. Here's What That Means for Your Business.

On 1 July, SafeWork NSW released its 2026-27 Regulatory Statement — the document that tells every NSW business where the regulator will be looking over the next twelve months. For the second year running, psychosocial risks sit in the top four priorities, alongside falls from heights, hazardous substances, and mobile plant.

If you run a business in NSW, that's not background noise. It's a signal worth acting on — and after ten years working in WHS compliance at Brisbane City Council, I can tell you what it looks like when a regulator says the same thing two years in a row: they mean it, and they're building the capability to enforce it.

What the numbers say

In the past twelve months, SafeWork NSW received more than 2,200 requests for service related to psychosocial hazards, and was notified of over 190 workplace incidents in the same category. Those aren't abstract statistics — they're workplaces where stress, bullying, unreasonable workloads, or poor support reached the point where someone picked up the phone to the regulator.

And SafeWork isn't just watching. Backed by a $127.7 million funding boost, it has expanded its psychosocial inspectorate and established a dedicated Psychosocial Advisory Service. More inspectors, specifically trained in psychosocial risk, asking to see what you're doing about it.

The part most businesses miss: Codes of Practice are now enforceable

Recent workplace protection reforms in NSW made Codes of Practice legally enforceable. Previously, a Code was strong guidance — evidence of what "reasonably practicable" looks like. Now, failing to follow an applicable Code (or do something demonstrably as good or better) is a compliance gap an inspector can act on directly.

For psychosocial risk, that means the Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards at work is no longer a document you can politely file away. It expects you to identify hazards, assess them, implement controls, and — critically — review whether those controls are working. On an ongoing basis. With evidence.

"We have an EAP" is not a system

Here's the uncomfortable truth for a lot of businesses: the most common response to psychosocial risk is an Employee Assistance Program and a poster in the lunchroom. Those are worthwhile — but they're reactive supports, not risk controls. An inspector's question isn't "what can workers do when they're already struggling?" It's "how do you identify psychosocial hazards before they cause harm, and where's your record of doing it?"

That second question is where most businesses have nothing to show. Not because they don't care — but because psychosocial risk management has never had the daily, documented rhythm that physical safety has. There's no SWMS equivalent for workload strain. No prestart checklist for how the crew is actually travelling.

What a documented record actually looks like

The Regulatory Statement also reinforces SafeWork's focus on worker consultation about WHS risks. Consultation isn't a once-a-year survey — it's an ongoing, two-way process, and it needs to be evidenced.

In practice, a defensible record of psychosocial risk management has three ingredients:

• Regular check-ins with workers — brief, consistent, and low-friction enough that they actually happen

• A timestamped trail — showing when concerns were raised, what was done, and when it was reviewed

• Visibility of patterns — so rising workload strain or declining crew wellbeing shows up before it becomes an incident notification

The takeaway

SafeWork NSW has told every business in the state where it's looking for 2026-27, and psychosocial risk is on the list for the second year running. The businesses that will be in a strong position aren't the ones with the glossiest wellbeing program — they're the ones who can show a consistent, documented process of listening to their workers and acting on what they hear.

The good news: building that record doesn't have to be another admin burden. It can take less than a minute a day.

Want to see how SOV·32 builds your psychosocial risk record one check-in at a time? Book a demo — it takes 15 minutes.