Officer
An officer for WHS purposes is a director, secretary, or person who participates in decisions that affect a substantial part of the business — adopted from the Corporations Act 2001 definition. Officers carry the personal due-diligence duty under s27 of the model WHS Act.
Legal context
The "officer" concept exists to attach personal WHS accountability to the people who actually make resourcing and strategic decisions. The definition is imported from s9 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and covers directors and secretaries by default, plus any other person who makes or participates in making decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part of the business, has the capacity to significantly affect the corporation's financial standing, or who acts on directions of the directors. Partners in a partnership and members of governing bodies (universities, councils, agencies) can also be officers.
Practical use
In a small SME, the officer is usually the owner or managing director. In a larger business, the C-suite. The practical question is "does this person make decisions that affect the whole business or its financial standing" — if yes, they are likely an officer and s27 due diligence applies personally.
Regulator references
The binding-law and regulator-guidance sources behind this term.
Where this shows up in RAE IQ
Related terms
Due diligence (officer)
Officer due diligence is the personal duty owed by officers (directors, CEOs, executives) under s27 of the model WHS Act. It is six steps: acquire knowledge, understand operations, ensure resources, ensure incident response, ensure compliance with duties, and verify all the above.
PCBU
PCBU stands for Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking — the primary duty-holder under model WHS legislation in Australia. It is broader than “employer”: a PCBU can be a company, a sole trader, a partnership or an unincorporated association, and the duty applies whether or not workers are paid.
Industrial manslaughter
Industrial manslaughter is a state-level criminal offence covering workplace deaths caused by negligent or reckless conduct of a PCBU or senior officer. It now exists in Vic (2020), Qld (2017), ACT (2003), NT (2019), SA (2024), WA (2022) — with NSW the only mainland holdout as of mid-2026.
Platform pillars
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47 WHS and HSWA terms with legal context, FAQs and regulator references.