SafeWork NSW has launched a dedicated Psychosocial Advisory Service (PAS) that gives workers and employers access to trained advisers, after psychosocial requests for service to the regulator more than doubled over the past five years. Between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, the regulator received 3145 psychosocial requests, which made up 20.5 percent of all requests for service compared with 10 percent in 2021/22.
Developed with the Black Dog Institute, the service helps people understand, respond to and prevent bullying, harassment, work-related stress and mental harm in a trauma-informed way, and it gives cleaning and facilities management employers with dispersed crews a place to seek advice. Callers reach the service through the 13 10 50 hotline by selecting 1 for SafeWork NSW followed by 3, through online enquiries or through the SpeakUp web interface.
Trauma-trained advisers staff the service and can refer people who need mental health support to external providers. Data-driven triaging prioritises time-sensitive or severe incidents involving bullying, harassment or suicidal risk, while Lifeline Northern Beaches gave SafeWork NSW staff specialised training in mental health, crisis response and psychosocial risk management.
The NSW Government is backing the service with a $127.7 million investment to enhance SafeWork NSW capability and capacity, which includes 20 additional specialised psychosocial inspectors, and the PAS forms part of the $344 million Workplace Mental Health package. The launch follows the largest psychosocial compliance blitz the regulator has run, in which inspectors visited more than 200 medium to large workplaces across industries with higher rates and severity of psychosocial harm and issued more than 80 improvement notices relating to psychosocial hazards and risk management.
Minister for Industrial Relations Sophie Cotsis said the NSW Government designed the service to respond to the changing nature of workplace risk: “Modern workplaces present modern risks. The Minns Labor Government is taking strong action to support the health and wellbeing of workers.”
Codes of practice carry legal weight
The launch follows reforms to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 that took effect on 1 July 2026 and made codes of practice binding in NSW, so businesses must comply with relevant codes, including the Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work code of practice, or risk breaching the Act.
SafeWork Commissioner Janet Schorer stated the service offers deeper support than a standard telephone line and gives workers a pathway to help before problems escalate.
“The new Psychosocial Advisory Service is more than just a hotline. It offers in-depth conversations and practical, structured advice for those who need it most,” she said.
Business NSW chief executive officer Dan Hunter said in a statement that small operators without dedicated HR or safety teams stand to gain from the service.
“Small businesses take the health and safety of their people seriously, but psychosocial risks can be difficult to navigate, particularly for owners who don’t have dedicated HR or safety teams,” he said.
Black Dog Institute Chief Scientist and Executive Director Samuel Harvey said the growing recognition of psychological harm drives the need for services of this kind.
“One of the most significant developments in work health and safety is the growing recognition that psychological harms are as damaging as physical harm.”
Workers with concerns can lodge a psychosocial request for service on the SafeWork NSW website or contact SafeWork on 13 10 50 or through the Speak Up Save Lives app, which allows anonymous reports.
