2004 Amendments to the OH&S Act

On 16 August 2004 the Governor-General gave Royal Assent to the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Amendment (Employee Involvement and Compliance) Act 2004 [no. 122 of 2004].

The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations' media release of 12 August 2004, regarding passage of the legislation through the Senate, provides brief details on the changes to the OHS(CE) Act 1991.

The amendments came into effect on 13 September 2004.

The key features of the amendments are explained in this document.

Information sessions were conducted to explain the implications of the amendments. The Presentation package from these sessions contains the PowerPoint presentation, the Employee and Employer Guides, and an extract of Schedule 2 of the Act. [1.7mb zip]

Comcare has developed a Guide to the Amendments for Employers and an Employees Guide to explain the amendments in detail and their implications.

A series of Questions and Answers have been develop to further explain issues arising from the amendments.

For more information phone the Comcare OHS Hotline - 1300 366 979 or Email enquiries to: ohs.help@comcare.gov.au