Work health and safety prosecutions: new data now available

New data released by Safe Work Australia shows that while the number of WHS prosecutions declined in 2025, the average financial penalty reached a record high.

Safe Work Australia has updated the work health and safety (WHS) prosecutions dashboard with the latest publicly available data for 2025. The dashboard provides national information on criminal prosecutions for breaches of WHS laws and regulations since 1 January 2020, including incidents, offences and sentencing outcomes.

Key findings from 2025:

• Following 4 consecutive years of increases, the number of WHS prosecutions fell to 308, down from 321 in 2024.
• 99% of prosecutions resulted in a financial penalty, continuing an upward trend from 98% in 2024 and 97% in 2023.
• The average financial penalty per prosecution was $147,985, the highest annual average recorded and a 33% increase from 2024.
• The 3 most common industry divisions among defendants were:
  o    Construction (43% of cases)
  o    Manufacturing (20% of cases), and
  o    Mining (6% of cases).
• Construction and Manufacturing have remained the most common industry divisions among defendants since data collection began in 2020.

The WHS prosecutions dashboard is updated annually.

If you have any questions or need further guidance, please don’t hesitate to contact our Advisory team:

📞 (02) 6175 5900
📧 workplace@mba.org.au