WHS consultation duty checker

Pick what you are about to do and see whether you must consult workers on it, the legal trigger, how to consult properly and when a health and safety representative must be involved.

Figures checked 5 November 2026. Free to use, no sign-in.

Victoria and Western Australia have their own Acts; the tool switches to them.

Your consultation duty

Proposing a change to work, premises, plant or substances

Yes, you must consult

Any proposed change that may affect health or safety, such as to the work, the workplace, plant, substances or how work is organised, must be consulted on before it is decided. (s 49(d) of the WHS Act).

How to consult

  1. Share relevant information about the matter with the workers affected.
  2. Give them a reasonable opportunity to express views, raise issues and contribute to the decision.
  3. Take their views into account before you decide.
  4. Tell them the outcome in a timely way.

Other businesses

  • If another business shares a duty for the same matter, such as a principal contractor, labour hire provider or host, you must also consult, cooperate and coordinate with them (s 46).

Source: ss 46–49 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW).

  • Telling workers about a decision that has already been made is not consultation. They must be able to influence it.
  • If you have agreed consultation procedures with workers, follow them as well, so far as they are consistent with the Act.

General information, not legal advice.

How this works

WHS Acts (all states and territories except Victoria, plus Comcare): s 47 sets the duty to consult, s 48 how to consult, s 49 when consultation is always required, and s 46 the duty to consult other businesses that share a duty. Western Australia’s Act involves the health and safety representative “so far as is reasonably practicable” and asks you to consult at convenient times and places.

Victoria: s 35 of the OHS Act 2004 covers when and how to consult, including deciding the membership of a health and safety committee. Its consultation steps have no separate duty to report the outcome.

Legal basis

Checked against these sources on 5 November 2026. Spotted a figure that looks wrong? Tell us.

Questions

When do I have to consult workers on safety?

Whenever a health and safety matter directly affects them, so far as is reasonably practicable. The Acts list situations where it is always required: identifying hazards and assessing risks, deciding controls, deciding whether facilities are adequate, proposing changes, and setting procedures for consultation, issue resolution, monitoring and training.

What counts as genuine consultation?

Sharing the relevant information, giving workers a reasonable opportunity to give their views and raise issues, and taking those views into account before deciding. Under the model WHS Act you must also tell them the outcome. A notice about a decision already made does not count.

Do I have to agree with what workers say?

No. The decision is still the business’s. But you must genuinely consider their views, and it helps to record what was raised and how you responded.

Does consultation cover contractors and labour hire workers?

Yes. Under the WHS Acts a worker includes contractors, subcontractors, labour hire workers and volunteers. Victoria’s OHS Act extends consultation to independent contractors and requires labour hire providers and hosts to consult each other.

Related tools

All tools
CheckerNotifiable incident checkerCheck whether a workplace death, injury, illness or dangerous incident must be reported to the WHS regulator, how fast, who to call and what records to keep.Open checker CheckerPsychosocial risk self-assessmentRate the 14 common psychosocial hazards to build a ranked risk register, with the psychosocial regulations that apply in your state or territory.Open checker CalculatorWorkplace amenities calculatorWork out the toilets, urinals, washbasins and drinking water points a workplace should have from its headcount, under the code of practice for your state.Open calculator

Questions the calculator can’t answer?

Workfloor answers pay, award, leave and termination questions for your team, with the Fair Work Act section or award clause behind each answer.

See plans