About this Submission

Currently, the NSW WHS Act does not contain an industrial manslaughter offence, but the State’s common law criminal legal system already contains an offence which already applies to workplace fatalities (the offence of involuntary manslaughter through criminal negligence). However, a breach of WHS health & safety duties is not covered by the criminal law. This has left a gap that the NSW government has decided to fill. Business NSW’s submission contains detailed recommendations on how to introduce an industrial manslaughter offence in the WHS Act without interfering with NSW’s criminal legal system.