On 19 December 2025, Magistrate Brett Thomas of the New South Wales Local Court convicted the Australian Department of Defence and imposed a fine of $188,000 for failing to manage psychosocial risks in the workplace. The conviction relates to the death of a 34-year-old Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) technician who took his own life while on duty at RAAF Base Williamtown, near Newcastle, New South Wales, on 28 July 2020. Defence pleaded guilty to a single charge under section 33 of the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), admitting it did not take reasonably practicable measures to eliminate or minimise the health and safety risks to the worker. Comcare, Australia's national work health and safety regulator, confirmed this conviction represents the first time a Commonwealth employer has received a criminal penalty for failing to manage psychosocial risks under federal work health and safety laws.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter on referral from Comcare. Magistrate Thomas also issued an adverse publicity order under section 236 of the WHS Act. This provision can compel an offender to publicise the offence, its consequences, and the penalty imposed. The court will determine the specific terms of that order at a later date.

Definition of Psychosocial Hazards Under Australian Law

Australia's amended Work Health and Safety Regulations, in effect across the Commonwealth jurisdiction since April 2023, define psychosocial hazards as aspects of work design, management, environment, or workplace interactions that could cause psychological or physical harm. The Commonwealth Work Health and Safety (Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work) Code of Practice 2024, adopted from the Safe Work Australia Model Code of Practice, requires persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to identify, assess, and control psychosocial risks using the same risk management framework applied to physical hazards.

Common psychosocial hazards identified in the Code of Practice include poor support, low job control, excessive workload, workplace bullying and harassment, inadequate change management, and poorly handled performance management processes.

Facts of the Williamtown Case

Comcare investigated the case beginning in July 2020. The investigation found the following:

• Supervisors subjected the worker to four separate Work Plans over a six-month period as part of a draft performance management procedure.

• The worker displayed increasing signs of distress and ill-health during this process.

• At no point during the process did the worker's supervisors refer him for support, place him on leave, or take other steps to address his deteriorating condition.

• Defence knew the worker was not coping and that he was also experiencing personal difficulties.

Comcare CEO Colin Radford stated: "The risks were obvious and known to Defence through existing policies and guidelines. These policies can only ever mitigate risk if they are applied and followed in practice, and if they are supported by training those responsible for implementing them."

Defence breached its primary health and safety duty under section 19(1) of the WHS Act by failing to provide the necessary training for supervisors involved in the use of the draft Work Plan procedure. According to Comcare, the risk controls available to Defence included training supervisors to: understand how a Work Plan may constitute a psychosocial hazard; identify psychosocial risks associated with workers subject to performance management through Work Plans; and recognise when to refer a worker for medical assessment or suspend the performance management process.

Charges and Penalty

According to Hamilton Locke's legal analysis, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions originally charged Defence in 2022 with three offences:

• One Category 2 offence under section 32 of the WHS Act (which requires proof of exposure to a risk of death or serious injury)

• Two Category 3 offences under section 33 of the WHS Act (which require proof of the existence of a risk to health and safety)

All three charges related to alleged failures in managing risks to psychological health and safety during performance management. Defence ultimately pleaded guilty to a single Category 3 charge. The maximum penalty available to the court for a Category 3 offence under the WHS Act is $500,000. Hamilton Locke described the $188,000 fine as sitting in the mid-range of available sanctions.

Legal Framework

The Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011 imposes a primary duty of care on all PCBUs, including Commonwealth government departments, to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers. The April 2023 amendments to the Work Health and Safety Regulations specifically prescribe how duty holders must identify and manage hazards and risks to workers' psychological health and safety.

Comcare enforces these laws across the federal public sector, including the Department of Defence. Hamilton Locke observed that the conviction demonstrates that "simply relying on policies and procedures as controls is insufficient to eliminate or mitigate psychosocial risks in the workplace." The firm noted that organisations must actively train personnel to apply safety policies and must monitor compliance in practice.

Context: The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide

The conviction arrived during a period of sustained scrutiny of Australian military culture and mental health. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, established in July 2021, delivered its Final Report on 9 September 2024. The report contained 122 recommendations for reform of culture, systems, and processes across the Defence and veteran ecosystem.

Key facts about the Royal Commission:

• The inquiry received over 5,000 submissions. Approximately 80 per cent came from serving or former Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and their families.

• The Commission identified more than 50 previous reports and over 750 recommendations spanning multiple decades, with limited government follow-through on implementation.

• Commissioner Nick Kaldas stated that many people within the system had "turned a blind eye, over many years and felt that it was too hard, or they simply didn't care enough to tackle the problems."

• The Commission called for an enterprise-wide injury surveillance and prevention program covering both physical and psychosocial risks, culture targets focused on psychosocial safety, mandated training to reduce stigma and promote help-seeking, and an independent statutory oversight body.

The Australian Government responded on 2 December 2024, agreeing or agreeing-in-principle to 104 of the 122 recommendations and noting 17 for further work. A twelve-month progress update released on 2 December 2025 by the Minister for Defence reported that 32 recommendations had been implemented, with work underway on the remainder. The Department of Defence described the Royal Commission as a "once in a generation opportunity to learn and strengthen Defence's approach to mental health and welfare wellbeing."

Regulatory Enforcement Trends

The Defence conviction builds on an emerging pattern of regulatory enforcement around psychosocial safety in Australian workplaces.

As HFW documented in its analysis of Australian psychosocial risk reforms, Court Services Victoria pleaded guilty in October 2023 and received a fine of $379,157 under Victorian occupational health and safety law for failing to identify and assess risks to the psychological wellbeing of its employees within the Coroners Court, amid conditions prosecutors described as a toxic workplace culture. The Defence case differs in that it represents the first conviction under federal (Commonwealth) WHS law and the first against a Commonwealth employer specifically for psychosocial failures.

SafeWork NSW released its Psychological Health and Safety Strategy 2024-2026 on 22 May 2024, announcing increased regulatory action against high-risk and large businesses and government agencies. Under the Strategy, SafeWork inspectors conduct "psychological WHS checks" when visiting workplaces with 200 or more employees.

Comcare operates a Psychosocial Inspection Program that supports Commonwealth employers to maintain psychosocially safe and healthy workplaces.

Pinsent Masons noted in December 2025 that Australian courts now accept employees' subjective accounts of their feelings as relevant evidence when assessing whether an employer failed to comply with its duty to control risks to psychological health and safety. The firm observed that the standard expected by courts for employers has "never been higher."

Military-Specific Psychosocial Challenges

The Royal Commission documented how the hierarchical command structure of the ADF, a culture of stoicism and self-reliance, fear of medical downgrade or career consequences for seeking help, and the demands of military service create barriers to identifying and managing psychological harm.

The Commission found that personnel subjected to performance management or disciplinary action sat among those at elevated risk of psychosocial harm, suicide, and suicidality, yet the systems designed to manage those processes often lacked the safeguards necessary to mitigate that risk.

A 2024 study published in the Journal of Character and Leadership Development at the United States Military Academy examined the application of psychological safety concepts in military environments. The researchers noted that while psychological safety supports effective team functioning, its implementation in military settings requires careful calibration to avoid unintended negative outcomes in operational contexts.

Summary of Key Facts

This article discusses suicide and workplace psychological harm. If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, support is available. In Australia, contact Open Arms (1800 011 046) for current and former ADF personnel, or Lifeline (13 11 14).

Sources

1. Comcare, "Defence convicted after RAAF worker's death," 19 December 2025. comcare.gov.au

2. Hamilton Locke, "Department of Defence convicted for failing to manage psychosocial risks," 19 January 2026. hamiltonlocke.com.au

3. PS News, "Defence handed first-ever Commonwealth employer penalty for psychological harm death," 24 December 2025. psnews.com.au

4. Newcastle Herald, "Defence fined $188,000 over worker death at Williamtown RAAF," 19 December 2025. newcastleherald.com.au

5. Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, Final Report, 9 September 2024. royalcommission.gov.au

6. Prime Minister of Australia, "Government's response to the Final Report," 2 December 2024. pm.gov.au

7. Minister for Defence, "12 Months On Since the Government Response," 2 December 2025. minister.defence.gov.au

8. Department of Defence, Royal Commission Taskforce page. defence.gov.au

9. Safe Work Australia, Model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work. safeworkaustralia.gov.au

10. Commonwealth WHS (Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work) Code of Practice 2024. legislation.gov.au

11. HFW, "Workplace Safety Reforms: Psychosocial Risk Changes in Australia," 2 December 2025. hfw.com

12. Pinsent Masons, "Psychosocial safety obligations on Australian employers continue to increase," 5 December 2025. pinsentmasons.com

13. Holding Redlich, "SafeWork NSW announces new psychological health and safety strategy," 2024. holdingredlich.com

14. Swain, J.E. et al., "Exploring the Utility of Psychological Safety in the Armed Forces," Journal of Character and Leadership Development, 2024. jcldusafa.org

15. Comcare, Psychosocial Inspection Program. comcare.gov.au