Betteridge Legal Consulting in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Commercial and industrial

Betteridge Legal Consulting

Locality: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61 419 763 396

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• Commercial and industrial
• Workplace and office
• Occupational health and safety service

20.01.2022 Interesting new discussion paper out today from the Federal Attorney General's office on Cooperative Workplaces https://www.ag.gov.au//industrial-relations-consultation-c

17.01.2022 More relevant information released about the jobkeeper payments for employers with employees and those without - including eligibility for employees currently stood down https://www.ato.gov.au/general/gen/JobKeeper-payment/

14.01.2022 The Commonwealth Government's Comcare webpage has some good information, including a checklist regarding working from home - with suggestions in relation to the physical environment, system of work, communication, isolation and mental health aspects - well worth reviewing https://www.comcare.gov.au/prevent-harm/coronavirus

08.01.2022 Victoria has just passed Workplace Manslaughter legislation to come into operation on 1 July 2020, unless gazetted at an earlier date. This legislation inserts a new provision into Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 which imposes criminal liability and significant sanctions on employers and their officers (generally the senior staff), but not volunteers, for breaching a duty owed to employees and others at a workplace under the Act. Duties owed by employees ...and the reckless endangerment provisions are excluded from the applicable duties under the Act. This means that for employers or individual officers (eg senior staff) who by their acts or omissions to act, demonstrate a "great falling short of the standard of care that would have been taken by a reasonable person in the circumstances in which the conduct was engaged" and a person is thereby placed at a high risk of death, serious injury or serious illness, that employer faces a potential fine of over $16.5M and any individual may be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. These are indictable (serious criminal) offences and cannot be heard in the Magistrates' Court. All employers are encouraged to revisit their health and safety policies and procedures prior to the commencement of operation of these amendments to ensure they have in place systems and processes that will allow them to identify and address all risks in the workplace, and particularly those that might be considered high risks.

06.01.2022 Further useful information: https://www.business.gov.au//coronavirus/jobkeeper-payment