On 6 May 2026, in a written response tabled in the NSW Legislative Council to questions on notice from Mark Latham MLC, the Minister for Work Health and Safety, Sophie Cotsis, confirmed that SafeWork NSW had issued three improvement notices following four Requests for Service received in 2025 in relation to psychosocial concerns raised during the filming of Married At First Sight. The PCBU is Endemol Shine. The notices addressed reporting of notifiable incidents, systems of work to manage physical and psychological hazards, and work health and safety training. A separate Request for Service was lodged in early 2026, and that investigation is ongoing.

The pattern

Reality television looks like entertainment. From a WHS perspective, it is a workplace, and the contestants are workers. The Work Health and Safety Act applies. The psychosocial hazards are not incidental to the format. They are the format. Engineered conflict, sustained surveillance, isolation from outside support, sleep disruption, and public exposure of personal vulnerability are foreseeable features of the production model, not unfortunate side effects.

The 2025 season made this concrete. In February 2025, contestant Paul Antoine admitted on air to punching a hole in a door during an off-camera argument with his on-screen partner Carina Mirabile. NSW Police referred the matter to South Sydney Police Area Command for investigation. Nine and Endemol Shine Australia issued a joint statement saying the wellbeing and safety of participants was their first priority, that they had consulted extensively with Carina, and that she wanted to remain in the experiment. The incident was the most publicly visible flashpoint of a season that ultimately generated four Requests for Service to SafeWork NSW.

Why a psychologist on set is not enough

The Minister's response confirms SafeWork NSW found a dedicated psychologist on set and other psychosocial services available to participants. The 2026 season brought a different kind of evidence. In May 2026, MAFS 2026 contestant Gia Fleur told the Saturday Telegraph she had never felt genuinely supported despite the available services. Her stated concern was structural: the psychologists are employed by Endemol and the network, and participants feared what they said would be relayed back to producers.

That is the WHS issue in one sentence. A support service whose independence the workers do not trust is not a control. It is a service that the PCBU can point to, but cannot rely on as evidence the duty has been discharged. The Code of Practice requires hazards to be identified, risks assessed, controls implemented, and effectiveness verified. Those obligations under the NSW Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards at work survive whatever support services are also provided.

What this looks like in practice

The three improvement notices map cleanly onto the gaps regulators are finding across every sector. Late reporting of notifiable incidents, with the first notice complied with on 17 April 2026. Systems of work that do not actually manage the psychosocial hazards the business itself has identified, with the second due for compliance on 15 May 2026. Training that has not reached the people who need it, with the third due on 25 August 2026.

None of this is unique to reality television. Replace "contestants" with "junior staff" or "frontline workers" and the same gaps appear in professional services firms, healthcare providers, and construction sites across NSW. The MAFS case is a reminder that psychosocial compliance is a continuing duty, not a defence built after a complaint is lodged.

What to do about it

Three things flow from this for any organisation with elevated psychosocial exposure.

First, your hazard register has to name the hazards your business model actually creates, not the generic ones in a template. SafeWork obtained and considered Endemol Shine's policies, procedures, training, psychosocial risk assessments, background checks, and casting documentation. Document the work or expect the regulator to look for it.

Second, your control measures have to be operational, not aspirational. A support service is not a control for an unmanaged hazard. The duty is to design safer systems of work, not to provide a counsellor after the harm occurs. If your workers do not trust the channel, it is not functioning as a control.

Third, your reporting obligations sit with the PCBU. A regulator finding out about a notifiable incident from a complaint, or from media coverage, is its own compliance failure. The documentary trail at governance level needs to show otherwise.

The cost of getting this wrong is rising. SafeWork NSW now has 20 dedicated psychosocial inspectors and five psychosocial investigators, funded through a $127.7 million Budget injection over four years. The era where psychosocial risk could be deferred is over.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information on psychosocial compliance in Australian workplaces. It does not constitute legal advice. Organisations should consult qualified professionals for advice specific to their circumstances. Data cited is sourced from Safe Work Australia and relevant state regulators as of the date of publication.