A long hospital ward corridor at night, lit by low floor lighting and the cool spill from open doorways, a simulated environment for the settings this practice happens in

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Occupational violence training: what Australian employers must do

Every state and territory asks employers to manage the risk of violence and aggression at work.

The hazard

It happens at the front of the service

A man on the footpath outside a call-out. A resident who lashes out during care. A client at the door who will not leave. Occupational violence and aggression, or OVA, is a hazard every employer here must manage.

A man waits on the footpath. A first person VR training scenario for healthcare, seen through the headset. — A man waits on the footpath at dusk.

Resident gestures beside a facilitator. A first person VR training scenario for aged care and disability services, seen through the headset. — A resident gestures, seen through the headset.

A case worker wearing a headset stands on a suburban doorstep, facing a simulated resident in the doorway with arms folded, practising a difficult home visit. — A resident at the door, arms folded.

The duty

One duty, in every state’s law

Work health and safety law asks employers to remove the risk where they can and reduce it where they cannot.

A consultant speaks with a family member in a hospital corridor, one of them wearing a headset. — A nurse faces a relative in a corridor.

Manage the risk

Under the Work Health and Safety Regulation, a business must manage psychosocial risks and put controls in place to eliminate them so far as is reasonably practicable, or minimise them where it is not.

A parent and clinician conversation, one of the recreated Mater settings. — A parent and clinician, in a recreated Mater setting.

Training is one of the controls

Queensland’s regulation lists what an employer must weigh when choosing controls, including workplace interactions or behaviours and the information, training, instruction and supervision given to workers. See psychosocial hazards training.

A nurse in scrubs walks toward the camera down a dark hospital corridor, a ribbon of light running across the frame. — A nurse walks a quiet ward at night.

Codes of practice carry weight

An inspector may refer to an approved code of practice when issuing an improvement or prohibition notice, and courts may rely on one to decide what is reasonably practicable.

A woman sits on the front bench of an empty lecture theatre, a ribbon of light running the width of the frame. — A woman on the front bench of a lecture theatre.

Training has to change behaviour

The NSW healthcare code places training among administrative controls and calls them the least effective, because they rely on human behaviour or supervision. Training earns its place by changing what people do, and showing it.

State by state

What each state and territory asks

Short entries, each linked to the rule itself.

A palliative care nurse talks with a visitor. A VR training scenario for healthcare. — A nurse talks with a visitor, headset on.

New South Wales

The Healthcare and social assistance industry Code of Practice asks for training in early warning signs of violent behaviour, de-escalation techniques, personal safety, and care needs such as dementia and mental health conditions.

A community nurse greets an older woman. A VR training scenario for healthcare. — A community nurse greets an older woman at her door.

Victoria

The Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations name aggression or violence as an example. The Department of Health’s OVA training modules cover risk assessment, de-escalation, Code Grey and Code Black roles, and incident reporting, with a framework for evaluating the training.

A woman in a headset sits across from a man mid-sentence in a remote clinic room, red earth and a wire fence through the window. — A remote clinic, red earth outside.

Queensland

The Work Health and Safety Regulation requires a business to manage psychosocial risks, weighing workplace interactions and the training workers receive.

Western Australia

The Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations require a business to manage psychosocial risks and put control measures in place.

An older woman waits in her doorway, seen through the headset from the footpath. — An older woman waits in her doorway.

Australian Capital Territory

The Work Health and Safety Regulation requires controls that eliminate psychosocial risks so far as is reasonably practicable, or minimise them.

Northern Territory

The Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations set the same duty to eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks.

An oncology nurse talks with a reclining man. A VR training scenario for healthcare. — A nurse sits beside a reclining patient.

South Australia and Tasmania

Read the South Australian Work Health and Safety Regulations and the Tasmanian Work Health and Safety Regulations on each state’s legislation site.

Accredited health services

The NSQHS Standards add accreditation duties: Action 1.20 asks for a mandatory training program and Action 5.34 for de-escalation strategies.

Where practice fits

Training that changes behaviour, and shows it

Codes rank training low because it relies on behaviour. Rehearsal is how behaviour changes, and the record is how you show it.

In a front room at dusk, a woman with a bag over her arm talks to a worker wearing a headset and holding a notebook, an older man watching from his armchair. — A worker listens at a family handover.

Rehearse the moment

Staff practise the conversation with a simulated person who responds to what they say, in OVA training built for hospitals, aged care and disability support. A debrief follows each attempt, and the record shows who practised what.

A support worker wearing a headset sits beside an older woman in a sunroom with plants at the window. — A support worker sits with a resident.

A visitor beside an empty chair in a consultation room, for practising a first meeting. A first person AI roleplay scenario for applied AI in sensitive conversations, seen through the headset. — A first meeting, rehearsed with AI.

Aged care and disability. A support worker at a young man's eye level: she wears a headset, sitting low beside him in a dim, calm room. — A worker kneels to a young man’s level.

Compared with the United States

Different rules, the same method

American rules often name the method itself.

A simulated GP consulting room. A woman in her sixties sits with an interpreter beside her, a doctor in the headset speaking to the patient, not the interpreter. — A consult with an interpreter in the room.

Practice written into the text

California and Nevada write practice with colleagues and a debrief into their health care rules, while Australian codes name the topics and rank the controls. Both lead to rehearsal with a record. See workplace violence training rules in the United States.

Questions

What employers ask first

Short answers to the questions that follow the rules.

A simulated suburban kitchen in an older person's home. A support worker wears the headset at the bench while the resident sits at the table. — A support worker in an older woman’s kitchen.

Is occupational violence training mandatory?

The regulations require employers to manage the risk, and the controls they weigh include the training workers receive. Codes such as the NSW healthcare code name the topics.

The clinician leans in; an older woman listens. A VR training scenario for aged care and disability services. — A clinician leans in to an older woman at the desk.

Which rules apply to a national provider?

Those of each state and territory where you have workers, so a national provider meets several versions of the same duty.

An older man attends a clinic with family. A first person VR training scenario for healthcare, seen through the headset. — An older man at a clinic, in headset.

Does an accredited hospital need both?

Work health and safety duties sit with the regulator, and NSQHS actions sit with the accreditation surveyor. One program can serve both when it produces evidence.

A pharmacist stands at the medication room bench. A first person VR training scenario for healthcare, seen through the headset. — A pharmacist at the medication room bench.

What records help?

Who practised, which scenario, and what changed. Training records sets out what to keep, and NSQHS training for Directors of Clinical Services covers the hospital view.

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