NSW government introduces bill to bolster digital workplace safety 

Mid-last week (19 November), the Minns Labor government introduced a bill to amend the work health and safety (WHS) laws to “safeguard the wellbeing of workers”.

The Work Health and Safety Amendment (Digital Work Systems) Bill 2025 was introduced by Minister for Industrial Relations, Sophie Cotsis (pictured), last week (19 November).

Protecting workers from harm

Based on this proposed legislation, a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) will need to audit their digital workplace systems to ensure that they do not promote unsafe workloads, unreasonable performance tracking, excessive surveillance, or discriminatory allocation of work.

This bill comes in response to Parliament NSW’s Impact of technological and other change on the future of work and workers in New South Wales report from 2022, aiming to address the potential harms that the rise of digital systems could have on the psychosocial health of workers.

Tough opposition

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) called this bill the “most interventionist AI and digital regulation in the country”.

BCA chief executive Bran Black warned that the new laws “hand unions unprecedented access to any business or worker’s computer system, without notice, to go through emails, personal data, and more.”

Black added: “The proposed reforms would put a chilling effect on innovation, driving down Australia’s competitiveness.”

“At a time when every state and territory should be focused on improving productivity performance, these changes represent a huge step backwards.”

Avoiding exploitation

In a statement, Minister Cotsis said that through this bill, the government aims to ensure that digital workplace systems help businesses and do not “[undermine] the health and safety of workers”.

Systems that track, time, and push workers beyond “safe limits” are not “innovation”, but instead “exploitation”, she added.

She concluded that the bill’s purpose is to protect the mental health of workers through preventative measures, while instilling workplace confidence for technology use.