Workplace Drug and Alcohol Policy (Australia)

An Australian Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) Policy is a formal document in which an employer commits to providing and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment for all workers and others affected by its activities. It sets out the organisation's WHS obligations under Australian law, defines the responsibilities of officers, managers, and workers, and establishes the systems and procedures the organisation will use to identify hazards, assess risks, and implement controls. The primary legislative framework governing WHS in Australia is the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) (the WHS Act) and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (Cth) (the WHS Regulation), developed by Safe Work Australia as model legislation. As of 2026, the model WHS Act has been adopted by the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania. Victoria and Western Australia have separate but substantially similar legislation (the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) and the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA)). The central obligation on employers is found in s 19 of the WHS Act. A person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers engaged by or caused to be engaged by the PCBU, and the health and safety of workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the PCBU. The 'so far as is reasonably practicable' qualifier requires the PCBU to weigh the likelihood and severity of a risk against the availability and cost of measures to eliminate or minimise it. Under s 27 of the WHS Act, officers of a PCBU (including directors and senior managers) have a positive duty to exercise due diligence to ensure the organisation complies with its WHS obligations. This includes acquiring and keeping up-to-date knowledge of WHS matters, understanding the operations and associated risks of the business, ensuring the PCBU has appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise WHS risks, and verifying that those resources and processes are being used effectively. Workers also have duties under s 28 of the WHS Act. They must take reasonable care for their own health and safety, ensure their acts or omissions do not adversely affect the safety of others, comply with any reasonable WHS instruction given by the PCBU, and cooperate with any reasonable WHS policy or procedure. The WHS Regulation 2017 (Cth) supplements the WHS Act by providing detailed requirements for managing risks, including the hierarchy of controls: elimination, substitution, isolation, engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (PPE) as a last resort. Employers are required to consult with workers when identifying hazards, assessing risks, and making decisions about controls under Part 5 of the WHS Act. Notifiable incidents — including workplace fatalities, serious injuries or illnesses, and dangerous incidents as defined in ss 35 to 37 of the WHS Act — must be reported immediately to the relevant state or territory WHS regulator. The incident scene must be preserved until an inspector attends or authorises disturbance under s 39 of the WHS Act. Having a documented WHS Policy is a fundamental element of any effective WHS management system. It demonstrates the organisation's commitment to health and safety at the highest level, provides a framework for establishing WHS objectives and responsibilities, and supports compliance with the WHS Act and WHS Regulation. Employers with five or more employees are required to record significant findings of risk assessments in writing under the WHS Regulation. This WHS Policy is suitable for businesses of all sizes across all industries operating in Australia and should be reviewed at least annually, or whenever there is a significant change to operations, personnel, or legislation.

An Australian Workplace Code of Conduct is a formal employer document that sets out the standards of professional behaviour, ethical conduct, and workplace values expected of all workers. It provides a clear framework for decision-making in situations that are not always expressly covered by other workplace policies, and establishes the consequences for falling below the required standards. A Code of Conduct is one of the most fundamental documents in any Australian employer's suite of workplace policies. The legal foundation for a Workplace Code of Conduct in Australia rests on the employer's implied common law right and contractual right to issue lawful and reasonable directions to employees. A direction is lawful if it does not require an employee to do something unlawful, and reasonable if there is a legitimate business justification for it. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) is central to the enforcement and legal effect of a Code of Conduct: under ss 387 and 388, the Fair Work Commission will consider, when assessing whether a dismissal for a Code breach was unfair, whether the employer had a valid reason for the action, whether the employee was notified of that reason, whether the employee was given an opportunity to respond, and whether dismissal was proportionate to the conduct in question. The Australian Public Service (APS) Code of Conduct established under the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth) ss 13 and 15 provides a widely referenced model for conduct standards in the public sector. While this model is specific to Commonwealth public servants, the conduct categories it employs — honesty, respect, diligence, care of Commonwealth resources, compliance with laws, and avoidance of conflicts of interest — reflect the conduct standards expected across Australian workplaces generally and are the basis for private sector codes of conduct throughout Australia. A well-structured Code of Conduct addresses a comprehensive range of conduct obligations: honesty and integrity in dealings with the organisation and its stakeholders; respectful treatment of all persons, including the prohibitions on bullying, harassment, and discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), and Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth); confidentiality obligations and privacy compliance under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles; responsible use of organisational property and resources; compliance with all applicable laws and professional obligations; responsible use of social media; avoidance of conflicts of interest; and proper handling of gifts, benefits, and hospitality. The Code should also address outside employment (secondary employment), which is increasingly common in the modern workforce. While the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) limits the extent to which employers can prohibit outside employment, reasonable restrictions connected to genuine business interests — such as those that address conflicts of interest, confidentiality, or performance impacts — are permissible. Conflicts of interest and gifts management are particularly important for organisations operating in regulated industries such as financial services (where the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ss 181–183 impose specific duties on directors and officers), healthcare, government contracting, and professional services. Robust disclosure and management processes for conflicts of interest and gifts help organisations maintain integrity and comply with applicable regulatory requirements. The bribery and corruption provisions of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) apply to all organisations operating in Australia. The Code of Conduct should make clear that offering or accepting bribes — whether in the form of cash, gifts, or other benefits — to improperly obtain or retain business is unlawful and will result in immediate disciplinary action, including referral to law enforcement authorities. This Workplace Code of Conduct is suitable for Australian businesses of all sizes and industries. It should be incorporated by reference into all employment contracts, acknowledged in writing by all workers upon commencement and following any amendment, and enforced consistently and in accordance with procedural fairness principles under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

An Australian Workplace Bullying and Harassment Prevention Policy is a formal policy document in which an employer commits to preventing bullying, harassment, and related psychosocial hazards in the workplace. It sets out the legal obligations of the organisation under Australian law, defines the conduct expected of all workers, establishes a clear reporting and investigation procedure, and ensures that workers affected by bullying or harassment receive appropriate support and access to a fair resolution process. The primary legislative framework governing workplace bullying in Australia comprises the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) anti-bullying provisions and the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) (WHS Act) psychosocial hazard obligations. Under ss 789FC to 789FI of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), a worker who reasonably believes they have been bullied at work may apply to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for an order to stop the bullying. Section 789FD defines bullying at work as repeated unreasonable behaviour by an individual or group of individuals towards a worker that creates a risk to health and safety. The definition expressly excludes reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable manner. The WHS Act 2011 (Cth) provides an additional layer of obligation. Under s 19, a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers. Safe Work Australia has published the model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work (2022) which identifies workplace bullying and harassment as recognised psychosocial hazards that employers must systematically identify, assess, and control. Psychosocial hazards can cause psychological harm, which the WHS Act recognises as a form of harm just as serious as physical injury. A further dimension was added by the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect@Work) Act 2022 (Cth), which inserted s 47C into the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) with effect from 12 December 2022. This provision imposes a positive duty on employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate, as far as possible, sexual harassment, sex-based harassment, and conduct that creates a hostile workplace environment on the ground of sex. The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been given enforcement powers in relation to this positive duty and has published a compliance framework across seven standards: leadership, culture, knowledge, risk management, support, reporting and response, and monitoring, evaluation, and transparency. Vicarious liability is a significant risk for employers who fail to take preventive steps. Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) s 106 and equivalent provisions in other discrimination legislation, an employer is liable for the harassing conduct of its employees unless it can demonstrate that it took all reasonable steps to prevent the conduct from occurring. A well-drafted and actively enforced Bullying and Harassment Prevention Policy, supported by regular training and an accessible complaint procedure, is the primary mechanism for establishing this defence. State and territory WHS legislation — including the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA), and the WHS Acts in other jurisdictions — impose equivalent or additional obligations in relation to psychosocial hazards. State anti-discrimination Acts also apply to harassment conduct and may provide additional complaint avenues. This policy is suitable for all Australian employers, regardless of size or industry, and should be reviewed at least annually, supported by regular worker training, and actively communicated to all employees and contractors.

An Australian Employee Handbook Acknowledgment is a formal document signed by an employee to confirm that they have received, read, and understood the employer's employee handbook (also called a staff handbook or policies and procedures manual). It creates a written record that the employee was made aware of the employer's workplace policies at a defined point in time, which is valuable evidence for employers if disciplinary or legal proceedings arise. In Australia, the legal framework governing employment is primarily established by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) for employees covered by the national workplace relations system, which covers the vast majority of private sector employees. The Fair Work Act establishes the National Employment Standards (NES), which are the minimum entitlements that apply to all national system employees regardless of any award, enterprise agreement, or employment contract. Key NES entitlements include maximum weekly hours of work, requests for flexible working arrangements, parental leave and related entitlements, annual leave, personal and carer's leave and compassionate leave, community service leave, long service leave, public holidays, notice of termination and redundancy pay, and the Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS). The Fair Work Information Statement is a document prepared by the Fair Work Ombudsman that employers must provide to each new employee before or as soon as practicable after the employee commences employment, under s 125 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The FWIS sets out information about the NES, modern awards, enterprise agreements, individual flexibility arrangements, the right to request flexible working arrangements, termination of employment, and the roles of the Fair Work Commission and Fair Work Ombudsman. Many employers include a confirmation that the FWIS has been received within the employee handbook acknowledgment form. An employee handbook acknowledgment serves several important practical functions. It establishes a clear record that the employee received the specific version of the handbook on a defined date, which is important when handbook policies are updated over time. It provides evidence that the employee was informed of key workplace policies — including anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies, WHS obligations, confidentiality requirements, and codes of conduct — before the relevant events giving rise to a dispute. In unfair dismissal proceedings before the Fair Work Commission, employers frequently rely on acknowledgment forms to demonstrate that the dismissed employee was aware of the policy they were found to have breached. It is important to note that an employee handbook does not ordinarily form part of the employee's contract of employment unless it is expressly incorporated by reference in the employment contract. Many policies in a handbook, such as disciplinary procedures and bonus schemes, are considered to be policies of general application that may be amended by the employer from time to time, rather than contractual terms. However, certain provisions — particularly those that confer specific entitlements — may acquire contractual force if they are sufficiently certain and are intended to be binding. Employers should be precise in their handbooks about which policies are contractual and which are discretionary. The acknowledgment form should identify the specific version of the handbook being acknowledged, the date of acknowledgment, the employee's name and role, and the format in which the handbook was provided. Employers covered by the Fair Work Act should also confirm that the handbook is consistent with, and does not purport to exclude or reduce, the employee's minimum entitlements under the NES, any applicable Modern Award, or Enterprise Agreement. This acknowledgment form also includes optional sections for confirming receipt of the Fair Work Information Statement, workplace health and safety obligations under s 28 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth), and confidentiality obligations. It is suitable for all types of employees in Australia, including full-time, part-time, casual, and fixed-term employees.

Create a legally compliant Full-Time Employment Agreement for Australia. Drafted in accordance with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), the National Employment Standards (NES), and Superannuation Guarantee requirements. Covers position, duties, salary, superannuation at 11.5%, 38-hour week, annual leave (4 weeks), personal/carer's leave (10 days), long service leave, notice periods, probation, confidentiality, and intellectual property assignment.