When is NSW WHS Act section 26A in force?
Short answer
NSW WHS Act section 26A is in force from 1 July 2026. From that date, approved Codes of Practice made under the NSW WHS Act are enforceable duties in their own right — not just evidence of how to comply.
NSW WHS Act s.26A was inserted by amending legislation and is in force from 1 July 2026.
Before 1 July 2026, an approved Code of Practice in NSW (and across the harmonised states) was admissible as evidence of how to comply with a WHS duty. Departing from a Code did not, by itself, mean you had breached the Act — you just had to show you had achieved an equivalent or higher standard.
From 1 July 2026 in NSW, under s.26A:
- Following the approved Code of Practice becomes an enforceable duty.
- A PCBU that does not follow the Code must demonstrate equivalent or higher safety outcomes — and document that rebuttal.
- SafeWork NSW inspectors and prosecutors can rely directly on a Code clause as evidence of duty.
In practical terms, that means a SWMS, risk assessment or procedure prepared for a NSW workplace from 1 July 2026 needs to engage with the relevant Code clauses — not just mention them.
RAE IQ documents prepared for NSW already cite Codes at the clause level. Our Approved Code of Practice Library (feature #52) supports per-document alignment to Codes with deviation justifications and rebuttal evidence — purpose-built for the s.26A duty.