The Victorian Government has provided the Sentencing Advisory Council with terms of reference to examine the sentencing of occupational health and safety (OHS) offences and make relevant recommendations for reform.
In undertaking the review, we are asked to:
- examine sentencing practices for OHS offences
- consult with stakeholders and the community
- consider whether sentencing practices align with community expectations
- consider the role of injured workers and their families in sentencing proceedings and
- examine the enforcement of sentencing orders, especially payment rates for court fines.
We are asked to deliver our final report by 31 December 2024.
The Council is focusing on sentencing outcomes for offences contrary to the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), the primary legislation regulating OHS in Victoria. The most common offences against that Act involve employers who fail to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the safety of employees and members of the public.
The Council is separately examining OHS offences committed by both companies and individuals. This is because companies and individuals are subject to different maximum penalties and different sentencing considerations.
To produce a statistical report on OHS offences, the Council examined:
- sentencing data from the courts, including outcomes of sentence appeals
- sentencing remarks from the courts in OHS cases
- prosecution summaries of OHS cases from WorkSafe
- fine payment data from Fines Victoria, WorkSafe and the courts.
Project Stages and Consultation
The project has four stages:
- First, we consulted with key stakeholders to identify potential issues that arise in the context of sentencing OHS offences. This was finalised in September 2023.
- Second, on 13 February 2024, we published both a consultation paper with a plain language summary and a statistical report on sentencing OHS offences, which we are using to seek stakeholder and community views.
- Third, we engaged in community consultation. We called for written submissions via email and Engage Victoria. We also hosted a series of community consultations around Victoria in February and March 2024.
- Finally, we will provide a report with recommendations to the Victorian Government by 31 December 2024 and then publish that report on our website.
