WorkSafe Victoria
WorkSafe Victoria regulates safety under the Victorian OHS Act 2004 (not the harmonised WHS Act) and manages the Victorian WorkCover workers'-comp scheme.
Ask Chalkline about this →WorkSafe Victoria is the Victorian workplace safety regulator and workers’-compensation scheme manager, the trading name of the Victorian WorkCover Authority. It does two jobs: it regulates work health and safety under Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, and it manages the Victorian WorkCover scheme under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (verified 2026-05-25, WorkSafe Victoria).
The key Victorian distinction: Victoria did not adopt the harmonised model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act. It runs its own OHS Act 2004 and OHS Regulations 2017, so the duties and some of the terminology differ from the WHS states (NSW, QLD, and the rest).
What it does:
- Safety regulator: monitors and enforces the OHS Act and regulations, issues compliance codes, and inspects, investigates, and prosecutes.
- Workers’ compensation: manages the WorkCover scheme that insures Victorian workers for work injuries and sets employer premiums.
For a builder in Victoria:
- Your safety duties sit under the OHS Act 2004 (Vic), not the model WHS Act, so use Victorian guidance rather than assuming the WHS-state rules apply.
- WorkSafe Victoria is also who your WorkCover premium and any work-injury claims go through.
- It is the Victorian equivalent of WorkCover WA, WorkCover Queensland, and ReturnToWorkSA, and the Victorian member of the state WorkSafe family.
Also known as: Victorian WorkCover Authority, WorkSafe Vic.
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Last updated: 2026-05-25. Verified: 2026-05-25. Quarterly review for currency.