Notifiable Incident Reporting in Victoria Under the OHS Act 2004

What it is

Victoria's notifiable incident framework operates under section 38 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic). An employer or self-employed person must notify WorkSafe Victoria of specified incidents immediately after becoming aware.

Victoria's framework is broadly similar to the model WHS Act 2011 in other jurisdictions but uses different definitions and terminology reflecting the OHS Act framework.

What must be notified

Section 38 of the OHS Act 2004 (Vic) requires notification of an incident where:

• the death of a person occurs
• a person requires immediate medical treatment for a specified injury or illness
• specified dangerous occurrences take place

Section 37 of the OHS Regulations 2017 (Vic) lists the categories of dangerous occurrences that must be notified, including uncontrolled fire or explosion, unplanned collapse of buildings or structures, unintended electric shock, and mining incidents.

Serious injury definition

Section 38(2) and (3) of the OHS Act define specified injuries as including:

• amputation of any part of the body
• serious head injury or eye injury
• separation of skin from underlying tissue
• electric shock
• spinal injury
• loss of bodily function
• serious lacerations

Not every workplace injury is notifiable. Cuts requiring stitches, minor burns and repetitive strain injuries generally do not meet the threshold.

Immediate notification

Section 38(1) requires notification immediately after the employer or self-employed person becomes aware. Immediate means without delay. WorkSafe Victoria operates a 24-hour incident line (13 23 60) for phone notifications.

Written notice within 48 hours

Section 38(4) of the OHS Act requires written notice within 48 hours of the incident. That is different from the model WHS Act (NSW, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, ACT, NT), where written notice is only required if the regulator requests it.

TradeForm VIC templates flag this VIC-specific 48-hour written notice as automatic, not conditional on request. A Victorian builder who follows the NSW conditional model breaches section 38(4).

Site preservation

Section 39 of the OHS Act requires the employer to ensure the site is not disturbed until an inspector arrives or authorises otherwise, except to assist an injured person, remove a body, make the site safe, or comply with police direction.

Record-keeping

The OHS Regulations 2017 (Vic) require the employer to keep records of the notifiable incident for at least 5 years. Records must include enough detail to identify the incident and the response taken.

Penalties

Section 38 offence carries penalties up to 240 penalty units for an individual and 1200 penalty units for a body corporate. Failure to notify is prosecuted regularly by WorkSafe Victoria as a strict liability offence.

The 2024 amendments

The 2024 OHS Act amendments strengthened notification requirements and introduced electronic notification pathways. The amendments do not change the fundamental section 38 framework but improve compliance ease for smaller employers.

Interaction with workplace manslaughter

Section 39G workplace manslaughter under the OHS Act 2004 (Vic) commenced 1 July 2020. Notifiable incidents involving death may trigger both section 38 notification obligations and section 39G prosecution. The two operate independently: notification does not admit fault, but non-notification is a separate offence.

How Victoria compares

Victoria's framework differs from the model WHS Act jurisdictions in three key respects:

• section 38(4) written notice is AUTOMATIC within 48 hours, not conditional on regulator request
• the OHS Act uses "employer" and "self-employed person" rather than "PCBU"
• the specified dangerous occurrences list under section 37 OHS Regulations 2017 is longer than under model WHS Regulation

A residential builder operating in Victoria and other states cannot rely on WHS Act 2011 notification practice to satisfy OHS Act 2004 duties.