Three Categories of WHS Offences and a Table of NSW Penalty Units (2025-2026)

There are three categories of Work Health and Safety (WHS) offences identified in the WHS Act:

• Section 31   Gross negligence or reckless conduct—Category 1

• Section 32   Failure to comply with health and safety duty—Category 2

• Section 33   Failure to comply with health and safety duty—Category 3

New South Wales continues to strengthen its WHS regulatory framework through annual CPI‑indexed updates to both penalty units and maximum WHS monetary penalties. These increases reflect an ongoing commitment to improving compliance, deterrence, and overall workplace safety across the state. The WHS legislative environment in NSW is becoming increasingly stringent, with:

• higher penalty exposure for breaches,

• annual increases to ensure deterrence remains effective, and

• greater accountability for senior leaders and duty holders.

  
  

Updated NSW Penalty Unit Values (2025–2026)

Under Section 242B of the NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011, the penalty unit is indexed annually based on the CPI. These values are used to calculate fines where the WHS Act expresses penalties in penalty unit. The officially published values are:

Financial Year	Penalty Unit Value
2024–2025	$120.42
2025–2026	$123.31

The following table depicts the dollar value associated with each of the penalty provisions for the three offense categories as applies to a PCBU (business, organisation, corporation), company directors and business owners (officers of a PCBU), and individuals (as workers or "others.")

Generally, if you are a business owner, company director, or an executive who can make significant decisions for your business, you are an "officer." Officers have an assurance role with specific duties under Section 27 of the WHS Act. Officers must exercise due diligence, including staying informed of regulatory changes, ensuring appropriate systems of work, and verifying both compliance and resourcing. Violations of these duties may result in fines or jail time, depending on the category of offence.

Workers and others (visitors, customers, etc) at the workplace also have duties under Sections 28–29 of the WHS Act and may face prosecution for individual breaches.

Offence Category	Description	Individual (Worker / Other Person)	PCBU (Individual / Officer)	Corporation
Industrial Manslaughter	Gross negligence causing workplace death	N/A (imprisonment applies) + 25 years imprisonment	N/A	$20,000,000
Category 1	Reckless or grossly negligent breach of duty	9,038 penalty units → $1,114,000+ (using 2025–26 PU value) Baseline dollar value 24/25: $1,088,355	18,805 penalty units → $2,318,000+; Baseline: $2,264,498	90,424 penalty units → $11,150,000+; Baseline: $10,888,858
Category 2	Failure to comply with duty causing risk of serious injury/death	1,813 penalty units → approx $223,000; Baseline: $218,321	3,626 penalty units → approx $447,000; Baseline: $436,642	18,128 penalty units → approx $2,234,000; Baseline: $2,182,973
Category 3	General failure to comply with duty	607 penalty units → approx $74,800; Baseline: $73,094	1,214 penalty units → approx $149,600; Baseline: $146,189	6,070 penalty units → approx $748,600; Baseline: $739,949

Important note:

• The baseline dollar values are from Safe Work Australia's 2024–2025 published table.

• For 2025–2026, penalties rise further through application of the new indexed penalty unit ($123.31).

• NSW penalties continue to increase annually, consistent with legislative CPI indexing.

For more information on WHS training or WHS compliance services, or if you would like help to make your WHS management system even more robust, please feel free to contact us at train@courtenell.com.au or phone us on 02 9552 2066

12 February 2026

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