Compliance Law

Compliance law is the body of Australian legislation, regulation and regulator guidance that sets what an organisation must do rather than what it might choose to do. It spans work health and safety, wages and entitlements, privacy, discrimination and a range of industry specific regimes, and it applies to a business regardless of its size, type or location.

Most of it sits in three layers, and the difference between them matters when something goes wrong. Acts create the duty. Regulations set out how to meet it in particular situations. Approved codes of practice are not law, but under section 275 of the model Work Health and Safety Act a court can admit one as evidence of what was known about a hazard, and rely on it when deciding what was reasonably practicable at the time. An organisation that disregarded the relevant code has to explain why.

The other feature worth understanding is that this law moves. Two recent examples:

• Intentional underpayment of wages became a criminal offence under the Fair Work Act on 1 January 2025, carrying maximum penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment for individuals.
• The right to disconnect reached small business employers on 26 August 2025, a year after it started applying to larger employers.

Duties also stack by sector. A transport operator carries chain of responsibility obligations on top of general WHS law. A business selling to consumers answers to competition and consumer law. Organisations delivering public and community services increasingly work to human rights obligations as well. Written workplace policies are how most of this actually reaches staff, which is why regulators ask to see them first.

Posts tagged here track what has changed in Australian compliance law and what it means day to day. Requirements differ across states and territories and change often, so treat this as general information rather than legal advice and get proper advice on anything consequential. Safe Work Australia’s codes of practice library is a sound place to check the current position. To see how these obligations translate into staff training, browse Sentrient’s compliance training courses.