Zenergy Take 5: WHS News for the Week of 19 October 2026
Queensland moves on psychological injury claims, fake safety certificates come under investigation in Victoria, the country’s biggest safety show opens in Sydney, and the job market sends mixed signals. Here are the five things across workplace health and safety, workers compensation and people and culture that deserve your attention this week — plus a featured senior role from the Zenergy desk.
1. Queensland moves to raise the threshold for psychological injury claims
On 14 October the Queensland Government tabled its response to the 2026 review of the state’s industrial relations and workers compensation legislation and introduced the Industrial Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, which has been referred to a parliamentary committee for inquiry.
The headline change for employers: the Bill would require employment to be “the major significant contributing factor” to a psychiatric or psychological injury before a claim can be accepted — a materially higher bar than the current test, under which work need only be “a significant contributing factor”. According to law firm Slater and Gordon, the government accepted 75 of the review’s 104 recommendations and accepted a further 14 in principle.
Queensland is following a well-worn path. NSW passed major workers compensation reforms this year, with key changes commencing on 1 October 2026 (SIRA), and Victoria tightened access to mental injury compensation in 2024. Plaintiff firms are warning the Queensland change could sharply reduce
acceptance rates for psychological claims. For employers, though, the signal is not relaxation — it is the opposite. With compensation harder to access, the regulatory weight shifts further onto prevention, and psychosocial risk management stays squarely on the compliance agenda.
Sources: Queensland Parliament; Queensland Office of Industrial Relations; Slater and Gordon media release, 15 October 2026; SIRA NSW.
2. Key dates: the WHS Show opens in Sydney as Safe Work Month enters its final stretch
The Workplace Health and Safety Show runs this Wednesday and Thursday, 21–22 October, at ICC Sydney. Entry is free, and SafeWork NSW will be on the floor (stand i02) with advice and resources — including on its $1,000 Small Business Rebate for eligible safety purchases.
National Safe Work Month — 2026 theme: “Safe work is for life” (Safe Work Australia) — is now in its final fortnight, and October is also Mental Health Month. If your Safe Work Month plans have slipped, there is still time for a toolbox talk, a psychosocial risk refresher, or simply closing out the actions you opened at the start of the month.
Sources: SafeWork NSW events; Safe Work Australia.
3. People and culture: psychosocial risk hides in the everyday
Speaking at the Sonder Summit, King & Wood Mallesons partner Cilla Robinson described the past 12 months in psychosocial safety as “remarkable”, HR Daily reports — pointing among other cases to the criminal conviction of the Department of Defence over psychosocial failings in the conduct of performance management, which drew a $188,000 fine and an adverse publicity order.
The lesson for HR and HSE leaders alike: psychosocial risk is not confined to the obvious hazards such as bullying or occupational violence. Routine processes — performance management, restructures, role changes — can create real legal exposure when they are run without care. Reviewing how everyday people-processes are designed and delivered is now core safety work, not an HR nicety.
Source: HR Daily, 16 October 2026.
4. Job market pulse: vacancies ease, public sector demand climbs
The ABS’s latest Job Vacancies release (August 2026, published 1 October) puts total vacancies at 325,000 seasonally adjusted — down 0.9% over the quarter and 1.3% over the year, and roughly 31% below the May 2022 peak. The fall was driven by the private sector (down 2.0%), while public sector vacancies jumped 7.8% in the quarter.
From the Zenergy desk, demand is holding at the senior end: our current listings span NSW, Queensland, Adelaide and Victoria, and workers compensation leadership capability is proving particularly hard to find.
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Job Vacancies, Australia, Zenergy
5. Industry story of the week: WorkSafe Victoria investigates fake safety certificates
On 13 October WorkSafe Victoria revealed it is investigating possible health and safety breaches linked to fraudulent qualification certificates, after intelligence shared by Victoria Police and other agencies identified several people who allegedly sought fake certificates for skills such as first aid, implementing traffic management plans and working safely at heights.
Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin warned that WorkSafe “will take compliance or enforcement action against anyone” who puts others at risk by working on the strength of false qualifications, and said any high-risk work licence holders linked to the alleged fraud will be audited. WorkSafe has issued a safety alert urging employers to confirm workers’ training and competency — including verifying qualifications directly with the issuing Registered Training Organisation.
We unpack what this means for HSE hiring and competency verification in this week’s deep-dive: [Deep-dive URL].
Sources: WorkSafe Victoria, 13 October 2026; OHS Alert, 16 October 2026 (subscription).
★ Featured Role ★
National Technical Manager – Workers Compensation
Sydney / hybrid — 3 days in office, 2 from home
A national principal subject-matter-expert role shaping workers compensation governance for a major organisation — just as the compliance landscape shifts.
The role:
• Act as the national principal SME for workers compensation governance
• Set and assure technical standards across the claims and injury management portfolio
• Hybrid 3/2 working format from Sydney
What you’ll bring:
• Deep workers compensation technical expertise across a national jurisdictions and self insurance license experience
Apply https://www.zenergygroup.com.au/job-results
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