Managing Psychosocial Risks in Recruitment: What we covered in our recent webinar

Last week, we teamed up with RCSA Australia & New Zealand to unpack the new psychological health laws in Victoria. and what they mean for recruitment businesses managing both internal teams and on-hire workers.

These new Psychological Health Regulations take effect in Victoria on 1 December, bringing the state into line with all other Australian jurisdictions where psychosocial risk laws are already in place.

Psychosocial risks are now firmly recognised in law as work health and safety risks, right alongside physical hazards. That means every recruitment business, and host employer has a duty to identify, assess and control risks such as work pressure, low role clarity, poor workplace relationships, and customer aggression or violence, to name a few.

During the session, we explored:

• The new WHS (Psychological Health) Regulations and what Victorian employers need to do to prepare.

• The rise in psychological injury claims and what’s driving them, with mental health claims costing three times more and taking four times longer to resolve than physical injuries.

• Recent case law and regulatory actions, including the Court Services Victoria prosecution and SafeWork NSW prohibition and improvement notices issued to UTS and Macquarie University for poor change management and consultation.

• Practical steps to strengthen your approach, from leadership capability and consultation to embedding psychosocial risk management in your WHS processes.

This webinar was all about making the laws real for the recruitment industry, helping businesses understand how psychosocial risks show up in internal teams and in on-hire placements, and what a proportionate, defensible response looks like.

If you missed the session, you can still grab our Psychosocial Risk Management Checklist for Recruiters - a practical tool to help you identify and manage risks across both internal and on-hire workforces.

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