Who runs which law
| Jurisdiction | Legislation | Model laws from | Regulator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth | Model WHS laws | 1 January 2012 | Comcare |
| Australian Capital Territory | Model WHS laws | 1 January 2012 | WorkSafe ACT |
| New South Wales | Model WHS laws | 1 January 2012 | SafeWork NSW |
| Northern Territory | Model WHS laws | 1 January 2012 | NT WorkSafe |
| Queensland | Model WHS laws | 1 January 2012 | WorkSafe Queensland |
| South Australia | Model WHS laws | 1 January 2013 | SafeWork SA |
| Tasmania | Model WHS laws | 1 January 2013 | WorkSafe Tasmania |
| Western Australia | Work Health and Safety Act 2020, a version of the model laws | 31 March 2022 | WorkSafe WA |
| Victoria | Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 | Never adopted | WorkSafe Victoria |
Safe Work Australia, model WHS laws and their implementation. WorkSafe WA, overview of Western Australia's Work Health and Safety Act 2020. Checked 9 September 2026.
Western Australia is worth a note. It passed its own version of the model laws rather than adopting them wholesale, so it is harmonised in structure without being identical in every detail. Where a WA question turns on fine wording, read the WA Act rather than the model Act.
Victoria, in detail
Victoria's law is built around employers and employees, not PCBUs and workers. The vocabulary in most national first aid material does not map onto it cleanly, and the numbers are different.
The Victorian duty
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, an employer must provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, adequate facilities for the welfare of employees at any workplace under the employer's management and control. That duty sits at section 21(2)(d).
WorkSafe Victoria supports it with a Compliance Code, First aid in the workplace, which came into effect on 4 November 2021 and replaced the 2008 edition. A Victorian compliance code performs a similar function to a code of practice in the model jurisdictions: it sets out a way of achieving compliance, and following it is one way of showing you have met the duty.
The number is different
The Victorian Compliance Code offers two routes. You can take the prescribed approach, which gives you set figures, or the risk assessment approach, which works from your actual circumstances. For low risk workplaces such as offices, shops and cafes, the prescribed approach works from a baseline of one trained first aider for every ten to fifty employees.
Why this matters if you operate across a border
The model Code of Practice suggests one first aider per fifty workers in a low risk workplace. The Victorian Compliance Code's low risk band starts at ten. An organisation running the same low risk activity in Melbourne and in Brisbane can properly arrive at different numbers, and neither is wrong.
WorkSafe Victoria, Compliance code: First aid in the workplace, and its summary of key changes from the 2008 edition. Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), section 21(2)(d). Checked 9 September 2026.
What this means for a Victorian community organisation
The volunteer association exclusion described elsewhere on this site is a feature of the model WHS laws. It does not transfer to Victoria as written, because Victoria's Act is framed around the employer and employee relationship rather than around the PCBU concept the exclusion is drafted against.
The practical outcome is often similar, in that a Victorian organisation with no employees has no employees to owe employer duties to. The reasoning is different, though, and the two should not be conflated. If your organisation is Victorian, has employees, or is unsure, take the question to WorkSafe Victoria's material or to advice rather than to a national summary written around the model Act.
What does not change at the border
Some things on this site are national and are unaffected by which jurisdiction you are in.
- Education and care services. Regulation 136 comes from the national law applied across the states and territories, so the requirement travels. See when it is mandatory
- Nationally recognised training. Unit codes such as HLTAID011 and the registered training organisation system are national. A statement of attainment issued in one state is recognised in all of them
- ANZCOR guidance. Resuscitation guidance is published for Australia and New Zealand as a whole. See how long training lasts
- Your own conditions. Funding agreements, insurance and affiliation rules follow the agreement, not the map
Continue
Disclosure
Published by SKLD Training, which sells first aid and CPR training and delivers in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria among other places, on behalf of Allens Training Pty Ltd, RTO 90909. Full disclosure.
Instruments on this page checked 9 September 2026. This is a description of public instruments, not legal advice.