{"id":"BILL-QLD-5290","name":"Strengthening Protections Against Violent Workplace Incidents Amendment Bill 2026","slug":"strengthening-protections-against-violent-workplace-incidents-amendment-bill-2026","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"qld","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":"2026-01-01","administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":451235,"registerId":"BILL-QLD-5290:current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-01-01","status":"in_force","reasons":null,"registeredAt":"2026-05-13T08:46:10.434Z"},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"retrieval-0001","sectionType":"document_chunk","heading":"Document excerpt 1","content":"# Strengthening Protections Against Violent Workplace Incidents Amendment Bill 2026\n\nQueensland\nStrengthening Protections\nAgainst Violent Workplace\nIncidents Amendment Bill\n2026\n\nQueensland\nStrengthening Protections Against Violent\nWorkplace Incidents Amendment Bill 2026\nContents\nPage\nPart 1 Preliminary\n1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4\nPart 2 Amendment of Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011\n2 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4\n3 Amendment of s 26 (What is a notifiable incident) . . . . . . . . . . . 4\n4 Insertion of new s 28A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4\n28A What is a violent incident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4\n5 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\nPart 3 Amendment of Work Health and Safety Act 2011\n6 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5\n7 Amendment of s 35 (What is a notifiable incident) . . . . . . . . . . . 5\n8 Insertion of new s 37A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6\n37A What is a violent incident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6\n9 Amendment of sch 5 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6\n\n2026\nA Bill\nfor\nAn Act to amend the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act\n2011 and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 for particular\npurposes\n\n[s 1]\nStrengthening Protections Against Violent Workplace Incidents Amendment Bill 2026\nPart 1 Preliminary\nPage 4\nAuthorised by the Parliamentary Counsel\nThe Parliament of Queensland enacts—\nPart 1 Preliminary\n1 Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Strengthening Protections\nAgainst Violent Workplace Incidents Amendment Act 2026.\nPart 2 Amendment of Safety in\nRecreational Water Activities\nAct 2011\n2 Act amended\nThis part amends the Safety in Recreational Water Activities\nAct 2011.\n3 Amendment of s 26 (What is a notifiable incident)\nSection 26—\ninsert—\n(d) a violent incident.\n4 Insertion of new s 28A\nAfter section 28—\ninsert—\n28A What is a violent incident\nIn this part, a violent incident is 1 or more of the\nfollowing that exposes a person to a serious risk of\npsychological harm—\n1\n2\nClause 3\n4\n5\n6\n7\n8\nClause 9\n10\n11\nClause 12\n13\n14\n15\nClause 16\n17\n18\n19\n20\n21\n22\n\n[s 5]\nStrengthening Protections Against Violent Workplace Incidents Amendment Bill 2026\nPart 3 Amendment of Work Health and Safety Act 2011\nPage 5\nAuthorised by the Parliamentary Counsel\n(a) a sexual assault or suspected sexual assault;\n(b) a physical assault, including with bodily\nfluids;\n(c) deliberate deprivation of a person’s liberty\nwithout lawful authority;\n(d) a threat of sexual or physical assault, or a\nthreat to deprive a person of the person’s\nliberty, if there is a reasonable belief that, at\nthe time the threat is made, the person\nmaking the threat—\n(i) intends to carry out the threat; and\n(ii) has the means to carry out the threat.\n5 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary)\nSchedule 2—\ninsert—\nviolent incident, for part 3, see section 28A.\nPart 3 Amendment of Work Health and\nSafety Act 2011\n6 Act amended\nThis part amends the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.\n7 Amendment of s 35 (What is a notifiable incident)\nSection 35—\ninsert—\n(d) a violent incident.\n1\n2\n3\n4\n5\n6\n7\n8\n9\n10\n11\n12\nClause 13\n14\n15\n16\n17\n18\nClause 19\n20\nClause 21\n22\n23\n24\n\nPage 6\nAuthorised by the Parliamentary Counsel\n[s 8]\nStrengthening Protections Against Violent Workplace Incidents Amendment Bill 2026\nPart 3 Amendment of Work Health and Safety Act 2011\n8 Insertion of new s 37A\nAfter section 37—\ninsert—\n37A What is a violent incident\nIn this part, a violent incident is 1 or more of the\nfollowing that exposes a person to a serious risk of\npsychological harm—\n(a) a sexual assault or suspected sexual assault;\n(b) a physical assault, including with bodily\nfluids;\n(c) deliberate deprivation of a person’s liberty\nwithout lawful authority;\n(d) a threat of sexual or physical assault, or a\nthreat to deprive a person of the person’s\nliberty, if there is a reasonable belief that, at\nthe time the threat is made, the person\nmaking the threat—\n(i) intends to carry out the threat; and\n(ii) has the means to carry out the threat.\n9 Amendment of sch 5 (Dictionary)\nSchedule 5—\ninsert—\nviolent incident, for part 3, see section 37A.\nClause 1\n2\n3\n4\n5\n6\n7\n8\n9\n10\n11\n12\n13\n14\n15\n16\n17\n18\n19\nClause 20\n21\n22\n23","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The amendment broadens the scope of what must be reported under two Acts by adding certain violent events that expose a person to a serious risk of psychological harm to the list of notifiable incidents. Previously the notifiable‑incident regimes were focused primarily on severe physical injuries, illnesses or deaths; this bill expands coverage to include psychological-harm risks arising from sexual assault (or suspected assault), physical assault (including with bodily fluids), unlawful deprivation of liberty, and certain threats. The change therefore extends regulatory reporting and potential inspection into a wider set of interactions and incidents than the original provisions targeted."},"complexity_factors":["Very short amendment bill (adds one defined concept into two Acts)","1 new defined term: \"violent incident\" (inserted twice)","Subjective threshold: \"serious risk of psychological harm\" (open to interpretation)","Conditional two‑limb test for threats (\"intends\" and \"has the means\")","Cross-references to two different Acts and their dictionaries (schedule insertions)","No new procedural rules — relies on existing notifiable-incident framework (reduces procedural complexity)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this bill does (mechanically)**\n\n- Adds a new category called a \"violent incident\" to the lists of \"notifiable incidents\" in two Queensland laws: the Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011 and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. (See amendments inserting new sections: Safety in Recreational Water Activities — new s 28A; Work Health and Safety Act — new s 37A; and the related changes to the notifiable-incident sections: Safety Act s 26 and WHS Act s 35.)\n\n- Defines a \"violent incident\" as one or more of the following that \"exposes a person to a serious risk of psychological harm\":\n  - a sexual assault or suspected sexual assault;\n  - a physical assault, including with bodily fluids;\n  - deliberate deprivation of a person’s liberty without lawful authority; or\n  - a threat of sexual or physical assault, or a threat to deprive someone of their liberty, where there is a reasonable belief that the person making the threat both intends to carry it out and has the means to do so. (See new s 28A / s 37A.)\n\n- Updates the Acts’ dictionaries (schedules) to add cross‑references to the new definition.\n\n**Who this affects**\n\n- Employers, persons conducting recreational water activities, and other duty-holders who are required to report \"notifiable incidents\" under those two Acts. They will need to treat qualifying violent incidents as reportable events.\n\n- Workers, customers, volunteers and others who may be exposed to violent conduct at recreational water activities or workplaces — such incidents will now formally trigger reporting and regulator attention.\n\n- The relevant regulators and inspectors, who may receive more notifications and may investigate or respond.\n\n**Why it matters (intended purpose and immediate effect)**\n\n- The stated purpose is to extend the notifiable-incident regime to cover certain violent acts that cause or risk serious psychological harm, not only the severe physical injuries or deaths that typically trigger reporting.\n\n- Mechanically, an event meeting the new definition becomes a notifiable incident. That generally requires the person with reporting duties under the Acts to notify the regulator, preserve the scene, and follow any immediate reporting requirements already in law for notifiable incidents (see the existing procedures in each Act). The bill itself adds the category and definition; it does not change the timing or format of notification beyond that.\n\n**How it changes incentives, costs and behaviour (analysis)**\n\n- Compliance and reporting burden: Duty-holders will need to make a judgement that an event meets the new definition (in particular whether it \"exposes a person to a serious risk of psychological harm\" and whether a threat is one that the maker \"intends\" to carry out and \"has the means\" to do so). Those judgments may increase time spent on incident assessment, documentation and notifications. Small operators and volunteers are likely to feel this burden more sharply than larger employers that already have incident-management systems.\n\n- Regulator workload and public cost: More notifications are likely to reach inspectors and regulators, which could increase investigatory workload and administrative costs. Those public costs are borne by the regulator’s budget (ultimately taxpayers) unless funded otherwise.\n\n- Risk of over- or under-reporting: The key phrases \"serious risk of psychological harm\" and \"reasonable belief\" are subjective, which can lead to variation in reporting. Some duty-holders may report conservatively to avoid penalties; others may under-report because they judge the risk as not meeting the threshold. This creates implementation risk and may require agency guidance.\n\n- Private-sector effects: Increased reporting and potential investigations can raise compliance costs, possibly affecting prices and operating choices. Insurers may reassess risk and premiums for businesses in affected sectors. Conversely, clearer reporting may reduce long-term costs by improving prevention and support, but that depends on regulator follow-up.\n\n- Markets for advisory services: The change increases demand for legal, compliance and training services (incident assessment, psychological-harm risk guidance, reporting procedures), benefitting firms offering those services.\n\n- Limited change to contractual freedom or ownership: The bill does not change property or ownership rights or directly limit contracting. It imposes additional regulatory duties on persons already obliged under the Acts.\n\n**Implementation and interpretation risks**\n\n- The undefined standard \"serious risk of psychological harm\" is open to interpretation. Agencies will need to produce guidance or cases will develop the standard. That creates short-run uncertainty.\n\n- The two-part test for threats (reasonable belief that the person intends to carry out the threat and has the means) introduces a fact-specific, evidentiary assessment at the notification stage.\n\n- Because the amendment duplicates the same definition into two Acts, consistent guidance and training will be important to avoid divergent practice between sectors (recreational water activities vs general workplaces).\n\n**Who pays, who decides, and how behaviour changes (summary)**\n\n- Who pays: businesses and duty-holders pay increased compliance costs (time, training, reporting); regulators bear increased administrative/investigatory costs (public expenditure); victims and workers receive the benefit of more formal reporting and potential regulatory response.\n\n- Who decides: duty-holders must decide whether an incident meets the statutory definition and therefore whether to notify. Regulators decide whether to investigate or take regulatory action after notification.\n\n- Behavior changes: employers and activity operators are likely to introduce or tighten incident-assessment and record-keeping processes, and may change staffing, training or security practices to reduce risk of incidents that would trigger reporting.\n\n**Relevant provisions (for quick reference)**\n\n- Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011: s 26 amended to add violent incidents as notifiable; new s 28A defines \"violent incident\"; schedule 2 updated (see Bill clauses 3–5).\n- Work Health and Safety Act 2011: s 35 amended to add violent incidents as notifiable; new s 37A defines \"violent incident\"; schedule 5 updated (see Bill clauses 6–9).\n\n**Trade-offs and opportunity costs**\n\n- The primary trade-off is between broader protection/attention for psychologically harmful violent incidents (benefit to workers and others) and the increased administrative cost, ambiguity in interpretation, and potential strain on regulator resources (costs). The measure concentrates the direct reporting benefit on victims and affected persons, while spreading compliance costs across a wide set of duty-holders."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/strengthening-protections-against-violent-workplace-incidents-amendment-bill-2026","history":"/api/acts/strengthening-protections-against-violent-workplace-incidents-amendment-bill-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/strengthening-protections-against-violent-workplace-incidents-amendment-bill-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/strengthening-protections-against-violent-workplace-incidents-amendment-bill-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/strengthening-protections-against-violent-workplace-incidents-amendment-bill-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/strengthening-protections-against-violent-workplace-incidents-amendment-bill-2026/documents"}}