NSW has quietly raised the bar on digital work systems and the implications are significant.
The Work Health and Safety Amendment (Digital Work Systems) Act 2026 (NSW) amends the primary duty of care to explicitly capture algorithms, artificial intelligence, automation, and online platforms.
In practical terms:
- If your organisation uses digital systems to allocate work, measure performance, monitor workers, or support decision-making, these systems are now clearly within the scope of WHS obligations.
- PCBUs must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers are not put at risk from how work is allocated by digital systems. This includes risks arising from:
- excessive or unreasonable workloads
- performance metrics and tracking
- monitoring and surveillance practices
- discriminatory or biased decision-making
- WHS entry permit holders may require reasonable assistance to access and inspect relevant digital work systems where a suspected contravention exists.
- The scope of “reasonable assistance” will be defined through regulator-issued guidelines, which must be developed following public consultation.
- These provisions will commence one month after the guidelines are published.
What this means in practice:
Organisations should now be preparing to:
- Understand how these changes apply across your operations
- Map how digital systems allocate, measure, and control work
- Assess psychosocial risks created by metrics, monitoring, and automation
- Update policies, risk frameworks, and governance once the guidelines come into force
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