Review of health and air monitoring requirements for hazardous chemicals

About this consultation

Safe Work Australia is reviewing health and air monitoring requirements for hazardous chemicals in the model WHS legislation, and their interaction with the model Code and guidance materials. The review was prompted by concerns that current requirements are unclear, leading to low monitoring rates.

The review aims to support effective monitoring in workplaces as a key mechanism to help protect the health and safety of workers by:

• understanding current implementation issues,

• assessing the need for regulatory amendments where required, and

• considering the need for additional or updated guidance to support compliance.

The consultation paper outlines issues identified through the review and proposed options to address them. Stakeholders are invited to respond to all or some of the discussion questions (included in both the consultation paper and the online survey) and identify any implementation issues that may arise. Stakeholders are also encouraged to provide evidence and data where available to support responses. Questions 1-20 relate to health monitoring and questions 21-24 relate to air monitoring. Additional issues and options relating to health and air monitoring requirements can be provided in response to questions 25-26.

Consultation process

All stakeholders with an interest in improving health and air monitoring requirements for hazardous chemicals are encouraged to participate in the consultation.

Feedback received through the consultation will be used to inform recommendations to Safe Work Australia Members for consideration. Any final recommendations will be provided to Commonwealth, state and territory WHS ministers, who are the final decision makers in relation to amendments to model WHS legislation.

Making a submission

Submissions are sought by 11:59 pm (AEST) Monday 21 September 2026. Submissions can be made by uploading a written submission or completing the online survey via the 'Have your say' section. If you are unable to lodge your submission using the Consultation Hub, please email occhygiene@swa.gov.au.

Demographic data will be collected as part of this process through completing the submission form.

You can decide how your submission is published on the Consultation Hub by choosing from the following options:

• submission published with your name, your organisation’s name, or a pseudonym

• submission published anonymously, or

• submission not published.