1 December 2025
The Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 are now in effect. Victorian workplaces are now under a clearer, stronger legal duty when it comes to managing psychosocial hazards. Work-related factors that can cause stress, burnout, or psychological injury are addressed in the new regulations.
Acknowledging and addressing mental health in the workplace isn’t new. The rise of mental health awareness in the workplace has been something we’ve observed in the past few years.
However, the new OHS (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 are now explicitly saying that psychological health is part of workplace safety, and employers like yourself must manage these risks with as much care as they do with physical ones.
Most businesses know what the regulations are for. The challenge is in knowing what compliance looks like in real life, and in how to implement these in your own workplaces and teams…all without overcomplicating systems and your internal processes.
From today, 1 December 2025, Victorian employers must:
These duties apply to your team and employees, as well as to any contractors or labour-hire staff that your business might have.
WorkSafe has also released a Psychological Health Compliance Code to guide employers and demonstrate what these requirements look like in practice. Following this Code isn’t mandatory, but it’s a good reference point for what is “reasonably practicable” when it comes to implementing the regulations.
We’ve previously reported on the regulations before today, as well as made recommendations on what businesses could do before 1 December.
However, the final version of the regulations is more practical than earlier drafts. While WorkSafe does provide prevention plan templates, employers aren’t required to create formal prevention plans nor submit six-month psychosocial complaint reporting.
The new regulations focus on practical risk management, and what this looks like for businesses. Your obligations as an employer are still very real, and it’s still clear that employers must still take active, defensible steps to manage psychosocial risks in the workplace.
The obligations on employers can feel overwhelming—especially if you don’t have a resource dedicated to keeping up with legislation like this.
At Now Actually, we offer a Psychosocial Safety and Employee Well-Being Framework designed specifically for small and medium businesses who need clear, simple, and legally aligned tools.
Our team will work with you to create a tailored framework that helps you fufil your employer obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025. It’s not a set of compliance documents that will gather dust on your shelf. We’ll work with you to have a usable system that protects your people and keeps your business compliant as well.
If you need help with putting a framework in place, or even understanding what your obligations are, we’re here to help.
Book a discovery call with us to discuss what “reasonably practicable” measures would look like in practice for your specific workplace and team.
