Industrial Manslaughter Under the WHS Act 2011 (Qld)

What it is

Section 34C of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) is the Queensland industrial manslaughter offence, commenced 23 October 2017. Queensland was the FIRST Australian jurisdiction to enact a specific industrial manslaughter offence.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (within Office of Industrial Relations) prosecutes section 34C matters. Queensland has been the most active jurisdiction on industrial manslaughter prosecutions since 2017.

The elements

Section 34C(1) applies where:

• the accused is a PCBU or a senior officer of a PCBU
• the PCBU or senior officer negligently causes the death of a worker

Section 34C(2) extends the offence to conduct causing the death of any other person exposed to risks from the business or undertaking.

Negligence is assessed on the criminal standard, requiring proof of a substantial departure from the standard of care expected of a reasonable person in the accused's position.

Officer accountability

The senior officer definition captures directors, secretaries, and executive officers. Queensland prosecutors have targeted individual directors in several construction industry cases since 2017.

Penalties (2024 increased)

• individual: up to 20 years imprisonment
• body corporate: up to $20,000,000 (post-2024 amendments)

The 2024 amendments increased the body corporate maximum from $10 million to $20 million, aligning QLD with NSW at the top of the Australian penalty scale.

Case law significance

Queensland has the most developed body of industrial manslaughter case law in Australia due to its 2017 head start. Cases have established:

• what constitutes "negligent" conduct in the industrial manslaughter context
• how causation is proven in workplace death cases
• the scope of senior officer liability for corporate PCBUs
• sentencing principles including personal circumstances of the accused

Those precedents inform prosecutions in NSW, VIC, SA, TAS, WA, ACT and NT despite variations in statutory drafting.

Interaction with section 32-33 category offences

Section 34C is prosecuted concurrently with or in lieu of category 1 or 2 offences depending on the evidence. Where a workplace death occurs, WHSQ typically brings both charges.

Interaction with QBCC licensing

Industrial manslaughter convictions of a builder or director trigger licensing consequences under the QBCC Act 1991 (Qld), including automatic disqualification from holding a licence for the imprisonment period.

How Queensland compares

Queensland's first-mover status has given it the most developed industrial manslaughter framework in Australia. The 2024 penalty increase brought QLD in line with NSW ($20m body corporate). Other jurisdictions have progressively caught up but Queensland's case law leadership remains.

Comparison scale:

• QLD: $20m body corporate, 20 years individual
• NSW: $20m body corporate, 25 years individual
• VIC: $19.8m body corporate, 25 years individual
• SA and TAS: $18m body corporate each
• ACT: $16.5m body corporate
• NT: $15.5m body corporate, life imprisonment individual
• WA: $10m body corporate