{"id":"C2008A00157","name":"Safe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2008","slug":"safe-work-australia-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-act-2008","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"157 of 2008","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":8096,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2008A00157-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Safe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2008","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nSafe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2008\n\n \n\nNo. 157, 2008\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to deal with transitional and consequential matters in connection with the Safe Work Australia Act 2008, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Schedule(s)\n\nSchedule 1—Repeal of the Australian Workplace Safety Standards Act 2005\n\nAustralian Workplace Safety Standards Act 2005\n\nSchedule 2—Consequential amendments\n\nOccupational Health and Safety Act 1991\n\nOccupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993\n\nSafety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988\n\nSchedule 3—Transitional provisions\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nSafe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2008\n\nNo. 157, 2008\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to deal with transitional and consequential matters in connection with the Safe Work Australia Act 2008, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 18 December 2008]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Safe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2008.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provision(s) Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. Sections 1 to 3 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table The day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. 18 December 2008\n- 2. Schedules 1 to 3 At the same time as section 5 of the Safe Work Australia Act 2008 commences. 1 November 2009\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally passed by both Houses of the Parliament and assented to. It will not be expanded to deal with provisions inserted in this Act after assent.\n\n (2) Column 3 of the table contains additional information that is not part of this Act. Information in this column may be added to or edited in any published version of this Act.\n\n3  Schedule(s)\n\n  Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.\n\n\n\n\nSchedule 1—Repeal of the Australian Workplace Safety Standards Act 2005\n\n \n\nAustralian Workplace Safety Standards Act 2005\n\n1  The whole of the Act\n\nRepeal the Act.\n\n\n\n\nSchedule 2—Consequential amendments\n\n \n\nOccupational Health and Safety Act 1991\n\n1  Subsection 70(9) (definition of advisory standard or code)\n\nRepeal the definition, substitute:\n\nadvisory standard or code means a national standard, or a code of practice, that is declared by Safe Work Australia under item 2 of Schedule 3 to the Safe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2008.\n\n2  Application of item 1\n\nThe amendment made by item 1 of this Schedule does not apply to a standard or code:\n\n (a) that is taken, because of item 1 of Schedule 3, to be a standard or code declared by Safe Work Australia; and\n\n (b) that has not been amended since it was first required to be so taken.\n\nOccupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993\n\n3  Subsection 109(9) (definition of advisory standard or code)\n\nRepeal the definition, substitute:\n\nadvisory standard or code means a national standard, or a code of practice, that is declared by Safe Work Australia under item 2 of Schedule 3 to the Safe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2008.\n\n4  Application of item 3\n\nThe amendment made by item 3 of this Schedule does not apply to a standard or code:\n\n (a) that is taken, because of item 1 of Schedule 3, to be a standard or code declared by Safe Work Australia; and\n\n (b) that has not been amended since it was first required to be so taken.\n\nSafety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988\n\n5  Paragraph 89E(1)(f)\n\nRepeal the paragraph, substitute:\n\n (f) the Chief Executive Officer of Safe Work Australia;\n\n6  Subsection 89E(3)\n\nRepeal the subsection.\n\n7  Subsection 89H(2)\n\nOmit “prescribed staff member within the meaning of section 89E”, substitute “member of the staff of Safe Work Australia referred to in subsection 59(1) of the Safe Work Australia Act 2008”.\n\n\n\n\nSchedule 3—Transitional provisions\n\n \n\n1  Transfer of national standards and codes of practice\n\nA national standard or code of practice that is in force under the Australian Workplace Safety Standards Act 2005 immediately before the commencement of this item, is taken, on and after that commencement, to be a national standard or code of practice declared by Safe Work Australia under item 2 of this Schedule.\n\n2  Function and power to declare national standards and codes of practice\n\n(1) It is a function of Safe Work Australia to declare national standards and codes of practice relating to occupational health and safety matters.\n\n(2) Safe Work Australia may, by written instrument, declare a national standard or code of practice in relation to an occupational health and safety matter.\n\n(3) Before declaring a national standard or code of practice, Safe Work Australia must consult in accordance with item 3 of this Schedule.\n\n(4) As soon as practicable after Safe Work Australia declares a national standard or code of practice, it must publish in the Gazette:\n\n (a) the title and objective of the standard or code; and\n\n (b) information as to how people may obtain a copy of the standard or code.\n\n(5) Safe Work Australia must, as soon as practicable after declaring a national standard or code of practice, give a copy of the standard or code to the Minister.\n\n(6) A national standard or code of practice is an instrument of an advisory character and is not a legislative instrument.\n\nNote: Even though national standards and codes of practice are advisory in character, they may be adopted and given legal effect to by a law, or by an award or instrument made under a law.\n\n3  Steps preparatory to declaring national standards and codes of practice\n\nGazettal notice\n\n(1) Before declaring a national standard or code of practice under item 2 of this Schedule, Safe Work Australia must publish a notice in the Gazette inviting people to make comments on the proposed standard or code.\n\n(2) The notice must:\n\n (a) set out the title and objective of the proposed standard or code; and\n\n (b) set out information as to how people may obtain a copy of the proposed standard or code; and\n\n (c) invite people to make comments on the proposed standard or code; and\n\n (d) specify the date by which comments must be received, which must be at least 4 weeks after the notice is published; and\n\n (e) specify the address to which those comments must be sent.\n\nOther invitations for comment\n\n(3) In addition to the notice under subitem (1), Safe Work Australia may use other means to invite a person, or people generally, to make comments on the proposed standard or code. The invitation must:\n\n (a) specify the date by which comments must be received, which must be at least 4 weeks after the date of the invitation; and\n\n (b) specify the address to which those comments must be sent.\n\n(4) If Safe Work Australia gives an invitation under subitem (3), Safe Work Australia must:\n\n (a) notify each person who, before the invitation, has already made comments on the proposed standard or code of that invitation; and\n\n (b) give the person the opportunity to revise the person’s comments within 4 weeks after the date of the notice.\n\n(5) However, Safe Work Australia is only required to give one notice to the person in relation to the proposed standard or code.\n\nConsideration of comments\n\n(6) Safe Work Australia must consider any comments made to it and, if it thinks fit, may alter the proposed standard or code.\n\n4  Cessation of function and power to declare national standards and codes of practice\n\n(1) In this item:\n\ncessation date means 1 January 2011 or such other earlier or later date that is prescribed by the regulations.\n\n(2) On and after the cessation date, Safe Work Australia no longer has the functions or powers referred to in items 2 and 3 of this Schedule.\n\n(3) However, a national standard or code of practice declared by Safe Work Australia under item 2 of this Schedule, that is in force immediately before the cessation date, continues in force on and after the cessation date.\n\n5  First plans of Safe Work Australia\n\n(1) Safe Work Australia must prepare the first draft strategic plan mentioned in section 27 of the Safe Work Australia Act 2008 as soon as practicable after the commencement of that section.\n\n(2) Safe Work Australia must prepare the first draft operational plan referred to in section 29 of the Safe Work Australia Act 2008 as soon as practicable after the commencement of that section.\n\n6  Requirement for meetings of Safe Work Australia in the first financial year\n\nIf paragraph 34(2)(b) of the Safe Work Australia Act 2008 does not commence on the first day of a financial year, that paragraph does not apply in relation to the financial year in which that paragraph commences.\n\n7  Regulations\n\n(1) The Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing matters:\n\n (a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or\n\n (b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.\n\n(2) In particular, regulations may be made prescribing matters of a transitional nature (including prescribing any saving or application provisions) relating to:\n\n (a) the amendments or repeals made by this Act; or\n\n (b) the enactment of this Act or the Safe Work Australia Act 2008.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 4 September 2008\n\nSenate on 23 September 2008]\n\n(160/08)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument is transitional and consequential to the Safe Work Australia Act 2008: it transfers existing functions and standards from the repealed 2005 Act to Safe Work Australia, sets out procedural steps for declaring advisory standards, and makes minor consequential amendments to other Acts. It does not expand the substantive scope of Commonwealth occupational health and safety law beyond transferring and preserving existing standards and providing a temporary declaratory power; therefore it has not grown significantly beyond its original, transitional purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Short text with 3 schedules and limited provisions","Repeal and transfer mechanism (Schedule 1; Schedule 3, item 1)","Creation of a new function and power with procedural steps (Schedule 3, item 2 and item 3)","Minimum consultation requirements (Gazette notice + 4 week minimum) (Schedule 3, item 3)","Temporary/variable cessation date with delegation to regulations (Schedule 3, item 4)","Cross-references and consequential amendments to three Commonwealth Acts (Schedule 2, items 1–7)","One substantive substantive definitional change: standards remain advisory but adoptable (Schedule 3, item 2(6))","Regulations power and transitional saving provisions (Schedule 3, item 7)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Act does, in plain terms**\n\n- Repeals the Australian Workplace Safety Standards Act 2005 and moves the job of holding and declaring national occupational health and safety standards and codes of practice to Safe Work Australia (the new body created by the Safe Work Australia Act 2008). (Schedule 1; Schedule 3, item 1)\n\n- Treats any national standard or code that was in force under the old 2005 Act as if Safe Work Australia had declared it (so existing standards keep operating immediately after the change). (Schedule 3, item 1)\n\n- Gives Safe Work Australia the formal function and power to declare national standards and codes of practice, sets out how those declarations are to be published and shared with the Minister, and confirms those standards are advisory (not legislative) instruments. (Schedule 3, item 2)\n\n- Requires a minimum public consultation process before Safe Work Australia can declare a standard or code: a Gazette notice and at least 4 weeks for submissions, with some additional optional consultation steps. Safe Work Australia must consider comments and may amend the draft before declaring it. (Schedule 3, item 3)\n\n- Provides that the power for Safe Work Australia to declare standards is temporary and will cease on 1 January 2011 unless regulations set a different date; standards declared before that cessation continue in force afterwards. (Schedule 3, item 4)\n\n- Makes consequential amendments to other Commonwealth Acts so references to advisory standards or codes point to standards declared by Safe Work Australia, and updates certain officer and staff references. (Schedule 2, items 1–7)\n\n- Sets minor transitional requirements for Safe Work Australia’s first strategic and operational plans and for initial meeting requirements, and gives the Governor‑General power to make regulations (including transitional regulations). (Schedule 3, items 5–7)\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n- Safe Work Australia: gains (temporarily) the formal power and administrative duty to declare national standards and codes, run the consultation process, publish notices in the Gazette, and give declared standards to the Minister. (Schedule 3, items 2–3)\n\n- Employers, workers, unions, industry bodies and other stakeholders: they are the target audience for consultation and are the parties most likely to face practical consequences when a national standard or code is later adopted into law or into workplace instruments. (Schedule 3, items 2 and 3)\n\n- Commonwealth laws and instruments that refer to advisory standards: their definitions are updated to point to standards declared by Safe Work Australia. (Schedule 2)\n\n- Administrative actors: the Minister receives declared standards; Safe Work Australia staff and CEO references are adjusted in the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. (Schedule 2, items 5–7)\n\n**Why it matters (mechanics and practical effects)**\n\n- Mechanically, the Act shifts where national OHS standards are declared (from the abolished 2005 Act to Safe Work Australia) and preserves existing standards so there is no immediate legal gap on commencement. (Schedule 1; Schedule 3, item 1)\n\n- The declared standards are explicitly advisory (they are not themselves laws), but the Act notes those advisory standards may be adopted by other laws, awards or instruments and thus could acquire legal effect indirectly. That means compliance obligations for businesses depend on whether a separate law or instrument incorporates the advisory standard. (Schedule 3, item 2(6))\n\n- The consultation regime requires a Gazette notice and a minimum 4‑week comment period. Safe Work Australia must consider submissions but retains the discretion to alter drafts or proceed. That sets a basic transparency and participation floor but gives the agency operational discretion. (Schedule 3, item 3)\n\n- The power to declare standards is time‑limited (cessation date default 1 January 2011, modifiable by regulation). Standards declared while the power exists remain in force after the cessation date. This creates a transitional window in which Safe Work Australia acts as the declarant of national standards; thereafter the power ceases unless regulations say otherwise. (Schedule 3, item 4)\n\n**Costs, incentives, trade‑offs and implementation issues**\n\n- Administrative cost and decision‑making: Safe Work Australia bears the administrative cost and workload of preparing drafts, running consultations (Gazette notice, receiving submissions, considering amendments) and publishing declarations (Schedule 3, items 2–3). The Act does not set budgets — those are borne through the normal appropriation and agency processes.\n\n- Compliance burden on businesses depends on downstream adoption: the Act itself does not create new legal obligations for employers; it creates advisory standards which only become legally binding if a law, award or other instrument incorporates them. (Schedule 3, item 2(6))\n\n- Concentrated benefits and influence: the mechanism centralises the declaratory role in Safe Work Australia for the transitional period (Schedule 3, item 2). The practical influence over what advisory standards are produced rests with the agency and those participants who engage in consultation. That creates a potential for concentrated influence by stakeholders who participate intensively in the process, though the Act requires public notice and a minimum comment period. (Schedule 3, item 3)\n\n- Consultation design and outreach risk: the statutory minimum is one Gazette notice plus 4 weeks. Safe Work Australia may use other invitation methods but is required to give only one notice to each person. That structure lowers the procedural floor but leaves scope for limited engagement if the agency does not actively broaden consultation channels. (Schedule 3, item 3(5))\n\n- Regulatory flexibility: the Governor‑General may make regulations for transitional matters and the cessation date may be changed by regulation. That provides implementers flexibility but also delegates important timing decisions to subordinate instruments, which can affect stakeholder planning. (Schedule 3, item 4; item 7)\n\n**Who pays and who decides**\n\n- Who pays: Safe Work Australia bears administrative costs of drafting, consulting and publishing standards. Businesses and employers bear compliance costs only if and when those advisory standards are adopted into law or industrial instruments. (Schedule 3, items 2 and 3)\n\n- Who decides: Safe Work Australia decides (1) whether to declare a national standard or code, (2) the content of the declared instrument (subject to its own consultation and consideration of comments), and (3) whether to alter a draft after consultation. The Minister receives copies but the Act does not make the Minister the declarant. (Schedule 3, items 2–3)\n\n**Net practical effect**\n\n- The Act is largely transitional and administrative: it avoids a legal gap by moving existing standards to Safe Work Australia, establishes the agency’s advisory role in declaring national standards for a defined transitional period, imposes minimum consultation steps, and updates related statutory references. It does not itself create new binding legal duties for workplaces — that depends on later adoption of advisory standards into law or instruments. (Schedule 3, items 1–4; Schedule 2)\n\n(References in parentheses are to the Schedules and items in this Act: Schedule 1; Schedule 2 items 1–7; Schedule 3 items 1–7.)"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: facilitating the transition from the Australian Workplace Safety Standards Act 2005 regime to the new Safe Work Australia framework. It does not expand beyond consequential and transitional matters connected to the Safe Work Australia Act 2008."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references to the Safe Work Australia Act 2008 and three other Acts (Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991, Occupational Health and Safety (Maritime Industry) Act 1993, Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988)","Nested conditional logic in Schedule 2 (application provisions that exempt certain standards from amendments if they haven't been amended since transfer)","Sunset clause mechanism (item 4 of Schedule 3) with regulation-making power to vary the cessation date","Detailed procedural requirements for public consultation (minimum 4-week comment periods, notification requirements, revision opportunities)","Legislative instrument exclusion clause (item 2(6) of Schedule 3) requiring explicit statement that standards are advisory not legislative","Transitional savings provisions preserving existing standards beyond the cessation of Safe Work Australia's power to make new ones"],"plain_english_summary":"This legislation is the 'clean-up crew' that makes sure the new Safe Work Australia body can actually start operating properly. It does three main things:\n\n**1. Abolishes the old system**\n- Repeals (cancels) the Australian Workplace Safety Standards Act 2005, which previously handled national workplace safety standards\n\n**2. Updates other laws to reference the new body**\n- Changes references in three other Acts (Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991, the Maritime Industry equivalent, and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988) so they point to Safe Work Australia instead of the old bodies\n- For example, where these laws used to talk about 'advisory standards' from the old system, they now refer to standards declared by Safe Work Australia\n\n**3. Handles the handover (transitional provisions)**\n- **Transfers existing standards**: Any workplace safety standards or codes of practice that existed under the old law automatically become Safe Work Australia standards\n- **Sets up temporary powers**: Gives Safe Work Australia temporary authority (until 1 January 2011, unless extended) to declare new national standards and codes of practice, with requirements to consult the public first\n- **Gets the new body started**: Requires Safe Work Australia to prepare its first strategic and operational plans, and handles meeting requirements for its first year\n\n**Why it matters**: This Act ensures there's no gap in workplace safety protections when switching from the old system to Safe Work Australia. Workers and employers don't lose existing protections, and the new national body has clear authority to operate from day one."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/safe-work-australia-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-act-2008","history":"/api/acts/safe-work-australia-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-act-2008/history","analysis":"/api/acts/safe-work-australia-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-act-2008/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/safe-work-australia-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-act-2008/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/safe-work-australia-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-act-2008/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/safe-work-australia-consequential-and-transitional-provisions-act-2008/documents"}}