Industrial Manslaughter Under the WHS Act 2012 (SA)

What it is

Section 30A of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) is the South Australian industrial manslaughter offence. It commenced 1 July 2024, one of the most recent additions to the Australian WHS enforcement framework.

SafeWork SA prosecutes section 30A matters through the Director of Public Prosecutions. The 1 July 2024 commencement coincided with the national engineered stone ban and category offence penalty increases.

The elements

Section 30A applies where:

• the accused is a PCBU or a senior officer of a PCBU
• the accused engages in conduct that constitutes a failure to comply with a health and safety duty
• the conduct causes the death of an individual
• the accused is negligent in engaging in the conduct

The negligence standard mirrors the QLD framework and is a lower threshold than the WA knowledge element.

Penalties

• individual: up to 20 years imprisonment
• body corporate: up to $18,000,000 fine

SA's $18 million body corporate penalty is aligned with Tasmania and sits between the top NSW/QLD/VIC penalties ($20m and $19.8m respectively) and the WA penalty ($10m).

Officer accountability

The senior officer definition captures directors, secretaries, and executive officers with senior management functions.

No prosecutions to date

As at July 2026, there have been no section 30A prosecutions in South Australia. The recent 2024 commencement and typical prosecution lead times explain the current absence of prosecutions. SafeWork SA is expected to bring the first cases in 2027-2028 based on incident trends.

Interaction with 2 metre fall threshold

The 1 July 2026 reduction of the SA high-risk construction work fall threshold from 3 metres to 2 metres significantly expanded the WHS notification and SWMS requirements for residential construction. Falls from 2-3 metres that cause deaths can now trigger section 30A prosecutions where the negligence and causation elements are met.

Interaction with CBS licensing

Section 30A convictions trigger CBS disciplinary action against the SA building work contractor licence. Automatic disqualification applies for the imprisonment period.

The 2024 SA reform package

The 1 July 2024 commencement of section 30A was part of a broader SA reform package that also increased category 1-3 offence penalties and strengthened officer accountability provisions. TradeForm SA templates were updated at 1 July 2024 to reflect the enhanced framework.

How South Australia compares

SA's $18 million body corporate maximum aligns with Tasmania and reflects a mid-range position on the Australian penalty scale. Both jurisdictions enacted industrial manslaughter in 2024 with similar frameworks.

Recent SA industrial manslaughter framework:

• July 2024: Section 30A commences with $18m body corporate maximum
• July 2026: 2m fall threshold expands notification and SWMS reach
• Ongoing: Case law developing from initial prosecutions expected 2027-2028