Safe Work Australia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Safe Work Australia is an
Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
statutory agency established in 2009 under the Safe Work Australia Act 2008. Their primary responsibility is to improve work health and safety and workers’ compensation arrangements across Australia. They represent a genuine partnership between governments, unions and industry, working together towards the goal of reducing death, injury and disease in the workplace. Safe Work Australia is jointly funded by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments through the Intergovernmental Agreement for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety signed in July 2008.


Governance

Safe Work Australia comprises 15 Members who work with agency staff to deliver the objectives of the strategic and operational plans. These members include an independent Chair, nine members representing the Commonwealth and each state and territory, two members representing the interests of workers, two representing the interests of employers and the Chief Executive Officer. Safe Work Australia Members meet at least three times a year.


History

On 1 November 2009, Safe Work Australia began operating as an independent statutory agency. Below is a table outlining Safe Work Australia’s history.


Role

Safe Work Australia works to: *raise awareness of work health and safety as a key issue in the community *improve work health and safety, by understanding what influences Australian workplace cultures and then putting in place mechanisms to effect change *harmonize work health and safety laws throughout Australia *develop national work health and safety and workers’ compensation policy, and *identify opportunities for improvement in workers’ compensation arrangements. This is achieved by: *promoting work health and safety through events including National Safe Work Australia Week and the annual Safe Work Australia Awards *developing, implementing and driving the new National Work Health and Safety Strategy 2012–2022 *developing, implementing and monitoring the harmonised work health and safety framework *developing and implementing the National Workers’ Compensation Action Plan 2010–2013 *developing and maintaining collaborative Australian and international partnerships on work health and safety, and *monitoring, collecting, analysing and reporting on research and data for work health and safety and workers’ compensation policy development and evaluation.


Relationship with the Commonwealth, states and territories

Safe Work Australia works with the Commonwealth, state and territory governments to improve work health and safety and workers’ compensation arrangements. Safe Work Australia is the national policymaker, not a regulator of work health and safety. The Commonwealth, states and territories have responsibility for regulating and enforcing work health and safety laws in their jurisdiction.


International collaboration

Safe Work Australia participates in a range of international activities. In line with the National OHS Strategy 2002-2012, Safe Work Australia undertakes these activities to improve communication with relevant national and international research bodies and improve national and international outcomes in work health and safety and workers' compensation. Safe Work Australia also participates in and facilitates visits to Australia from international organizations and government delegations seeking to exchange information about current work health and safety policy and practice. Australia is a signatory to a number of international conventions (an international agreement between countries established through consensus) relating to work health and safety policy. Some of the international organizations Safe Work Australia works with include: *
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
*
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
* The Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) *
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
*
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is a decentralised agency of the European Union with the task of collecting, analysing and disseminating relevant information that can serve the needs of people involved in safety and h ...
*
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...
* Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation, and *
International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...


See also

*
Health care in Australia Health care in Australia operates under a shared public-private model underpinned by the Medicare (Australia), Medicare system, the national Single-payer healthcare, single-payer funding model. States and territories of Australia, State and t ...
*
WorkSafe Victoria WorkSafe Victoria is the trading name of the Victorian WorkCover Authority, a statutory authority of the state government of Victoria, Australia. History After being renamed in 2014 as Victorian Work-cover Authority by Minister Gordon Rich- ...
* Worksafe (Western Australia)


References


External links

* {{Authority control Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia Occupational safety and health organizations Medical and health organisations based in Australia Workplace health and safety in Australia