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Comcare: the Commonwealth WHS and workers' comp regulator

Comcare is the federal WHS regulator and workers' comp insurer for Commonwealth workplaces, separate from state regulators. When a builder actually deals with it.

By Chalkline. Last updated 25 May 2026. Verified 25 May 2026.

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Comcare is the Commonwealth’s work health and safety regulator and workers’ compensation insurer. It does federally what SafeWork NSW or WorkSafe Victoria does at state level, but its jurisdiction is the Commonwealth, not the states. For most builders it is the regulator you will rarely, if ever, deal with.

What Comcare is

Comcare is the national WHS and workers’ compensation authority. It acts as regulator, insurer, claims manager, and scheme administrator for the Commonwealth jurisdiction (verified 2026-05-25). It runs on two pieces of federal law:

  • WHS: the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) and WHS Regulations 2011, the Commonwealth version of the same model laws most states adopted.
  • Workers’ compensation: the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (the SRC Act).

Who it covers

The Comcare scheme covers:

  • Australian Government departments and agencies and their workers.
  • National corporations granted a self-insurance licence to move out of the state schemes into the Comcare scheme.
  • Commonwealth entities, including Defence.

Its WHS inspectors and enforcement notices work like the state ones (improvement and prohibition notices, notifiable-incident duties), just under the federal Act.

Not the regulator for most building work

This is the key point for a builder: ordinary residential and commercial building work sits under the state regulator, SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, WorkSafe WA, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, and so on. Comcare is the exception, not the default.

For a builder

  • You meet Comcare only in the Commonwealth jurisdiction. Working on a Defence base, or for a Commonwealth agency or a Comcare self-insurer, can put that workplace under Comcare rather than the state regulator. Confirm whose jurisdiction the site is in before you start.
  • The duties feel familiar. The WHS obligations mirror the state model laws, so your SWMS, inductions, and incident reporting carry over; the regulator you report to changes.
  • Workers’ comp is a separate question. Comcare workers’ comp (SRC Act) is distinct from your state scheme; your own workers are almost always insured under the state scheme unless you are a licensed self-insurer.

Also known as: Comcare scheme, Commonwealth WHS regulator.

See also

Last updated: 2026-05-25. Verified: 2026-05-25. Quarterly review for currency.

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