Safe Work Australia has updated the WHS prosecutions dashboard to reflect the latest publicly available data from 2022, available on Safe Work Australia’s interactive data website, Our Data. Your Stories.
The prosecutions dashboard collates available national information on criminal prosecutions for breaching WHS laws or regulations since 1 January 2020. Developed in response to the 2018 Senate inquiry report They never came home – the framework surrounding the prevention, investigation and prosecution of industrial deaths in Australia, the prosecutions repository provides a national overview of WHS offences and helps inform decision-making to improve WHS outcomes.
Key findings from the 2022 data include:
- 282 prosecutions were brought against PCBUs for breaching WHS laws and regulations
- In 241 (85%) of these prosecutions, the defendant pleaded guilty
- $31.8 million in penalties were handed down – an increase compared to previous years ($27.3 million and $27.9 million in 2021 and 2020 respectively)
- 47 prosecutions related to a fatal injury, while 152 were connected to a serious injury or injuries.
Future updates to the WHS prosecutions data dashboard will be released annually.