SWMS Requirements by State
Every Australian state and territory requires a Safe Work Method Statement before high risk construction work starts. Seven jurisdictions follow the harmonised model WHS Regulations, where the SWMS duty is provision 299 and high risk construction work is defined in provision 291 (NSW remade its Regulation in 2025 and now cites them as sections). Victoria is the outlier: it runs its own OHS Regulations 2017 with the same practical duties under different citations. The table below shows the regulator, the legislation, and the exact provision numbers for each jurisdiction.
| Jurisdiction | Regulator | Regulations | SWMS duty | HRCW definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | SafeWork NSW | Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) | WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW) s 299 | WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW) s 291 |
| Victorianot harmonised | WorkSafe Victoria | Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic) | OHS Regulations 2017 (Vic) reg 327 | OHS Regulations 2017 (Vic) reg 322 (high risk construction work) |
| Queensland | Workplace Health and Safety Queensland | Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) | WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) reg 299 | WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) reg 291 |
| Western Australia | WorkSafe WA | Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA) | WHS (General) Regulations 2022 (WA) reg 299 | WHS (General) Regulations 2022 (WA) reg 291 |
| South Australia | SafeWork SA | Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA) | WHS Regulations 2012 (SA) reg 299 | WHS Regulations 2012 (SA) reg 291 |
| Tasmania | WorkSafe Tasmania | Work Health and Safety Regulations 2022 (Tas) | WHS Regulations 2022 (Tas) reg 299 | WHS Regulations 2022 (Tas) reg 291 |
| Australian Capital Territory | WorkSafe ACT | Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (ACT) | WHS Regulation 2011 (ACT) reg 299 | WHS Regulation 2011 (ACT) reg 291 |
| Northern Territory | NT WorkSafe | Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011 (NT) | WHS (NUL) Regulations 2011 (NT) reg 299 | WHS (NUL) Regulations 2011 (NT) reg 291 |
Citations current as at July 2026. These are the same regulation references the SWMS Pack generator cites when it writes a document for your state.
What is the same in every state
- ✓ The trigger: a SWMS is required for high risk construction work, and the categories are near-identical nationally
- ✓ Prepare the SWMS before the high risk work starts, in consultation with the workers doing it
- ✓ The work must comply with the SWMS, and stop if it cannot
- ✓ Review and revise the SWMS whenever the work, the site, or the controls change
- ✓ Keep a copy readily accessible at the site while the work is being done
Victoria: the one that is different
Victoria never adopted the model WHS laws, so nothing in a Victorian SWMS should cite “WHS Regulation reg 299”. The duty comes from the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic), high risk construction work is defined in its own regulation, and the regulator is WorkSafe Victoria. The document itself looks the same: job steps, hazards, risk ratings, controls in hierarchy order, sign-on. What changes is the legislation field and some terminology, and a Victorian builder's reviewer will check exactly that field first.
Working across state lines
A SWMS is not portable between jurisdictions by default. Take a Queensland crew to a NSW job and the structure survives, but the document needs the NSW citations and a recorded review for the new site. The fastest way to get this right is to generate the document against the state where the work actually happens: NSW and Victoria have dedicated guides, and every trade page has state variants.
Get a SWMS written for your state
The SWMS Pack generator asks which state the job is in and writes the document against that jurisdiction's legislation, using the citations in the table above. Answer a few questions about the site and the work, and download a site-specific SWMS in minutes for A$39, delivered in PDF and Word.
Generate my SWMSFrequently asked questions
Is a SWMS required in every Australian state?
Yes. Every state and territory requires a Safe Work Method Statement before high risk construction work starts. Seven jurisdictions apply the harmonised model WHS Regulations, where the duty to prepare a SWMS is provision 299 and high risk construction work is defined in provision 291 (cited as "reg" in most states; NSW's WHS Regulation 2025 calls them sections). Victoria imposes the same kind of duty under its own OHS Regulations 2017.
Does one SWMS work in every state?
The structure does, the citations do not. A SWMS prepared for NSW cites the WHS Regulation 2025 (NSW), which replaced the 2017 Regulation in August 2025; take the same crew to Victoria and the document must reference the Victorian OHS Regulations 2017 instead. Reviewers check the legislation field, so update it (and re-review the SWMS) whenever the work crosses a border.
How is Victoria different?
Victoria never adopted the harmonised model WHS laws. It runs the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and OHS Regulations 2017, enforced by WorkSafe Victoria, with its own definition of high risk construction work. The practical duties are very similar: prepare the SWMS before the work, follow it, review it when things change.
Who enforces SWMS requirements?
The state regulator: SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, WorkSafe WA, SafeWork SA, WorkSafe Tasmania, WorkSafe ACT, and NT WorkSafe. Inspectors can ask for the SWMS on the spot, and it must be readily available at the site.
Keep exploring
SWMS vs JSA: the differenceThe 18 HRCW categoriesFree SWMS template (PDF + Word)SWMS requirements explainedDo I need a SWMS?