Financial penalties from WHS prosecutions hit nearly $40 million in 2023

Financial penalties from prosecutions involving work health and safety (WHS) laws reached a new high in 2023, according to data from Safe Work Australia.

The WHS prosecution dashboard revealed that the total financial penalties for WHS violations increased to $39.95 million in 2023, up from $32.24 million in 2022, $27.31 million in 2021, and $27.29 million in 2020.

The average financial penalty from these prosecutions also surged to $138,724, up from $118.1k in 2022.

Total prosecutions in 2023

The data stems from the 293 prosecutions recorded in 2023 for breaching WHS Acts and/or regulations in Australia, according to Safe Work.

Among them, 45 prosecutions (15%) involved a fatal injury, while 145 involved serious injuries (49%).

_{Source: Safe Work Australia's WHS prosecutions dashboard}

Victoria emerged with the highest number of prosecutions by jurisdiction with 132 cases, according to the dashboard. Queensland came in second with 70, and then New South Wales with 65.

_{Source: Safe Work Australia's WHS prosecutions dashboard}

In nearly three in four cases (72%), Safe Work data revealed that the defendant PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) pled guilty.

Less than one per cent of the cases saw the PCBU pleading not guilty, while 27% of pleas were unknown or not published.

Safe Work's prosecutions dashboard gathers all available national data on criminal prosecutions for beaching WHS laws or regulations since January 2020.

The dashboard, established in response to a 2018 Senate inquiry report, aims to "inform decision-making to improve WHS outcomes."