--- title: "Occupational violence training in Australia: employer duties" description: "For Australian health, aged care and disability employers: what WHS law asks on occupational violence, state by state, and how staff practise it." canonical: https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/occupational-violence-australia --- [Learn](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn) / Standards # 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 at dusk. A resident gestures, seen through the headset. 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 nurse faces a relative in a corridor. ### Manage the risk Under the [Work Health and Safety Regulation](https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/sl/2011-36/), 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, in a recreated Mater setting. ### Training is one of the controls [Queensland’s regulation](https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2011-0240#sec.55D) 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](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/psychosocial-hazards). A nurse walks a quiet ward at night. ### Codes of practice carry weight An inspector may refer to an [approved code of practice](https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/1400027/Healthcare-and-social-assistance-industry-COP.pdf) when issuing an improvement or prohibition notice, and courts may rely on one to decide what is reasonably practicable. A woman on the front bench of a lecture theatre. ### Training has to change behaviour The [NSW healthcare code](https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/1400027/Healthcare-and-social-assistance-industry-COP.pdf) 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 nurse talks with a visitor, headset on. ### New South Wales The [Healthcare and social assistance industry Code of Practice](https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/1400027/Healthcare-and-social-assistance-industry-COP.pdf) 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 at her door. ### Victoria The [Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations](https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/statutory-rules/occupational-health-and-safety-psychological-health-regulations-2025/001) name aggression or violence as an example. The Department of Health’s [OVA training modules](https://www.health.vic.gov.au/worker-health-wellbeing/occupational-violence-and-aggression-training) cover risk assessment, de-escalation, Code Grey and Code Black roles, and incident reporting, with a [framework for evaluating the training](https://www.health.vic.gov.au/publications/evaluating-occupational-violence-and-aggression-training-framework-for-health-services). A remote clinic, red earth outside. ### Queensland The [Work Health and Safety Regulation](https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2011-0240#sec.55D) requires a business to manage psychosocial risks, weighing workplace interactions and the training workers receive. ### Western Australia The [Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/filestore.nsf/FileURL/mrdoc_47923.pdf/$FILE/Work%20Health%20and%20Safety%20(General)%20Regulations%202022%20-%20%5B00-m0-00%5D.pdf?OpenElement=) require a business to manage psychosocial risks and put control measures in place. An older woman waits in her doorway. ### Australian Capital Territory The [Work Health and Safety Regulation](https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/sl/2011-36/) 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](https://legislation.nt.gov.au/Legislation/WORK-HEALTH-AND-SAFETY-NATIONAL-UNIFORM-LEGISLATION-REGULATIONS-2011) set the same duty to eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks. A nurse sits beside a reclining patient. ### South Australia and Tasmania Read the [South Australian Work Health and Safety Regulations](https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/lz?path=%2Fc%2Fr%2Fwork%20health%20and%20safety%20regulations%202012) and the [Tasmanian Work Health and Safety Regulations](https://www.legislation.tas.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sr-2022-109) on each state’s legislation site. ### Accredited health services The [NSQHS Standards](https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/standards/nsqhs-standards/clinical-governance-standard) add accreditation duties: [Action 1.20](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/nsqhs-action-1-20) asks for a mandatory training program and [Action 5.34](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/nsqhs-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. 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](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr/occupational-violence-aggression-training) built for hospitals, [aged care](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/aged-care-disability) and [disability support](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/disability). A debrief follows each attempt, and the record shows who practised what. A support worker sits with a resident. A first meeting, rehearsed with AI. 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 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](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/workplace-violence-training-united-states). Questions ## What employers ask first Short answers to the questions that follow the rules. 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. 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 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 at the medication room bench. ### What records help? Who practised, which scenario, and what changed. [Training records](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/workplace-violence-training-records) sets out what to keep, and [NSQHS training for Directors of Clinical Services](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/healthcare-medical/directors-of-clinical-services) covers the hospital view. - [De-escalation for healthcare workers](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr/de-escalation-training-healthcare) - [Hospital de-escalation training](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/healthcare-medical) - [Dementia and changed behaviours training](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/aged-care-disability/dementia-changed-behaviours-training) - [VR de-escalation training](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr/vr-de-escalation-training) Managing occupational violence in Australia? [Open the contact form](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/occupational-violence-australia#contact) Ask Simon’s Digital Twin a question ## Sources Each rule in full, on the legislator’s or regulator’s own site. ### [Healthcare and social assistance industry Code of Practice](https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/1400027/Healthcare-and-social-assistance-industry-COP.pdf) SafeWork NSW Training topics, the hierarchy of controls, and how an approved code is used. ### [Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations](https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/statutory-rules/occupational-health-and-safety-psychological-health-regulations-2025/001) Victorian legislation Names aggression or violence among the psychosocial hazards. ### [Occupational violence and aggression training](https://www.health.vic.gov.au/worker-health-wellbeing/occupational-violence-and-aggression-training) Victorian Department of Health The training guide and eLearning modules for Victorian health services. ### [Queensland Work Health and Safety Regulation](https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2011-0240#sec.55D) Queensland legislation The duty to manage psychosocial risks and the matters to weigh. ### [ACT Work Health and Safety Regulation](https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/sl/2011-36/) ACT legislation register Controls that eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks. ### [Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations](https://legislation.nt.gov.au/Legislation/WORK-HEALTH-AND-SAFETY-NATIONAL-UNIFORM-LEGISLATION-REGULATIONS-2011) Northern Territory legislation The same duty to manage psychosocial risks. ### [Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/filestore.nsf/FileURL/mrdoc_47923.pdf/$FILE/Work%20Health%20and%20Safety%20(General)%20Regulations%202022%20-%20%5B00-m0-00%5D.pdf?OpenElement=) Western Australian legislation The duty to manage psychosocial risks and apply control measures. ### [Comprehensive Care Standard](https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/standards/nsqhs-standards/comprehensive-care-standard) Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care The action on identifying aggression risk and implementing de-escalation strategies.