Work Health and Safety
Ensuring safe and healthy workplaces for all
Union members are driving the fight for stronger workplace safety laws, ensuring every worker has access to safe working conditions and fair health and safety protections. This section highlights how collective action is pushing for better work health and safety (WHS) standards, stronger workers’ rights, and employer accountability in creating safer workplaces.
Protecting workers from unsafe conditions
Every worker deserves to feel safe on the job. Unions are leading efforts to prevent workplace injuries, enforce occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations, and eliminate risks such as exposure to hazardous materials and unsafe work environments. Campaigns focus on improving mental health support at work, strengthening safety training, and ensuring that workers are not put at unnecessary risk.
Join the movement for workplace safety
By becoming a union member, you gain the power to demand better workplace protections, fight for fair compensation for workplace injuries, and hold employers accountable for maintaining safe working environments. Together, union members are making real progress in creating workplaces where safety is a right, not a privilege.
Read our articles for more information about Health and Safety at Work!
COVID-19 pandemic leave and payments
July 2, 2021
What pandmic leave and payments are you entitled to? Check this list prepared by the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Vaccinations – your questions answered
July 1, 2021
Australian Unions answers key questions you may have about the vaccination program and your workers’ rights
What we now know about Morrison’s failed vaccine rollout
June 4, 2021
The Morrison Government’s bungled vaccination rollout has put workers and vulnerable people at potentionally deadly risk, writes Chloe Ward.
Report finds pay rise for one in four workers critical to economic recovery
May 26, 2021
A new report released by independent think tank Per Capita shows an increase to the minimum wage is critical to Australia’s economic recovery
The cost of workplace mental health issues is staggering. Here’s how we can change it
May 14, 2021
Workplace mental health issues are costing the economy $200-220 billion per year. Changes to safety laws will be good for workers and the economy.
Will Minister Cash vote to protect workers’ mental health?
May 7, 2021
Working Australians are counting on Minister Cash to better protect them from mental health hazards, writes Chloe Ward
Frontline workers aren’t getting their vaccinations – what isn’t the Government telling us?
April 16, 2021
For a Prime Minister who’s big on announcements, Scott Morrison has been strangely quiet about the vaccine rollout amongst care workers.
Safe Work 4 Women: enough talk – it’s time for action
April 14, 2021
Australian Unions has joined together with a diverse group of organisations representing women’s rights to demand the Morrison Government deliver real safety at work for women.
What to do if you are sexually harassed at work
February 22, 2021
When former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins shared her account of sexual assault in the workplace, it sent shockwaves through Parliament and the wider community.
But for many women, what emerged from the headlines was a distressingly familiar story of toxic workplace cultures, unacceptable tolerance of sexual harassment, and a complete failure of those in charge to protect victims.
End JobKeeper Uncertainty
February 15, 2021
End the uncertainty and anxiety about the future of JobKeeper.
That was the message from ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus, to Scott Morrison on ABC TV’s “Insiders” yesterday.