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Skodel Blog · 2026
PAW is closing. Here's what Australian employers need to do about psychosocial risk next.
PAW closes 2 October 2026. Here's what's changed in psychosocial risk compliance across Australia, and what an audit-ready system needs now.
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Key Figures
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2 Oct
2026 — the date PAW closes for good
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5,000
Australian organisations that relied on PAW as their psychosocial risk assessment
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1 Jul
2026 — NSW Codes of Practice became directly enforceable
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$1.43m
Fine against a Victorian transport company, director personally convicted
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For roughly 5,000 Australian organisations, the People at Work (PAW) survey wasn't just a wellbeing tool, it was an entire psychosocial risk assessment. |
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When it closes on 2 October 2026, it won't just take a survey offline. For many employers, it will remove the only evidence they had that they were managing psychosocial hazards at all. |
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In a recent myosh Academy session, Ian Fagan (Founder) and Sam McKenzie (Director of Psychosocial Compliance) from Skodel walked HR, WHS and governance professionals through exactly what's changed, and what to do about it. |
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| Skodel Blog |
Why PAW Is Closing |
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More than a lost survey
Safe Work Australia's free, national psychosocial risk survey, decommissioned for three reasons
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Incomplete hazard coverage
Doesn't cover all hazards named in the current Psychosocial Code of Practice, e.g. sexual harassment and remote or isolated work
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Declining participation
Response rates had been falling across the organisations that used it
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Better tools have emerged
Since PAW was originally designed, purpose-built compliance platforms have moved past a one-off survey model
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"It was viewed as the complete psychosocial risk assessment for them in their organisation."
— Ian Fagan, on one organisation Skodel had worked with
Once the platform closes, historical data, exports and trend history disappear with it, but the underlying legal obligation to identify, assess, control and review psychosocial hazards doesn't pause for a replacement tool.
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| Skodel Blog |
Regulatory Landscape |
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The ground has shifted underneath employers
Every state and territory now has enforceable psychosocial regulations
Built out progressively since NSW introduced the first Code of Practice in 2021, followed by Queensland, WA and Tasmania in 2022, South Australia in 2023, and Victoria, the last state to legislate, in December 2025.
NSW has since gone further again. From 1 July 2026, its Codes of Practice, previously treated by inspectors and courts as guidance on what was "reasonably practicable," without independent legal application, became directly enforceable. PCBUs must now either comply with an approved Code or demonstrate an equivalent or higher standard through an alternative approach.
"A regulator no longer needs to prove harm occurred, falling short of the Code may constitute a breach on its own."
— Sam McKenzie, Director of Psychosocial Compliance, Skodel
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| Skodel Blog |
What Regulators Are Testing For |
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Three recent enforcement cases
Discussed by Fagan and McKenzie during the session
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Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Found by SafeWork NSW to have failed to manage bullying allegations within its own board, resulting in a prohibition notice barring directors from contacting staff except through the CEO, and the charity regulator later suspending the incoming president.
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NSW Department of Education
A ten-month workplace investigation was itself found to be a psychosocial hazard, after a stood-down worker was given no detail of the allegations against her. The Commission ruled a single worker's complaint was enough to ground an improvement notice against the department's entire system of work.
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Victorian transport company
Fined $1.43 million, with its director personally convicted, after a driver worked 17 consecutive overnight shifts with no system to limit hours or mandate rest.
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Across all three, the same six things stand out as what regulators are testing for: a documented system (not a policy nobody uses), real timeliness safeguards rather than "guide only" targets, conduct at every level including the board, evidence that workers were actually consulted, alignment to the Code's four-step process, and a visible communication trail.
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| Skodel Blog |
Practical Roadmap |
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What audit-ready actually looks like
Not a one-off pulse survey — four things, and a 30/60/90-day sequence
Fagan and McKenzie were clear that audit-ready means a structured, repeatable system to identify and score hazards; trend evidence built up across multiple assessment periods; findings explicitly linked to controls and outcomes; and leadership training grounded in the same framework the organisation assesses against.
For organisations still relying on PAW, the immediate priority is to export and archive any remaining data before the platform closes. From there, the recommended sequence is practical:
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30 DAYS
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Audit current tools against the Code's named hazards and assign ownership of psychosocial risk reporting internally. |
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60 DAYS
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Run or refresh a risk assessment and stand up risk-banded reporting linked to controls. |
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90 DAYS
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Build a recurring assessment cadence and roll out leadership and board training aligned to the same framework. |
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Not sure where your organisation stands?
Skodel's free psychosocial planning tool is a simple, guided audit of your current psychosocial hazard risks and controls, a quick way to see where the gaps are before you commit to a full assessment. Myosh's risk and compliance reporting tools are built to support the same kind of documented, ongoing evidence trail once you're ready to formalise it. |
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| Skodel Blog |
Key Takeaways |
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| PAW closes 2 October 2026 — for many organisations, that removes their only evidence of psychosocial risk management, not just a survey tool. |
| Every Australian jurisdiction now has enforceable psychosocial regulations; NSW's Codes of Practice became legally enforceable from 1 July 2026. |
| Regulators no longer need to prove harm occurred, falling short of the Code can be a breach in itself. |
| Recent enforcement action shows the duty extends to board and leadership conduct, not just frontline management. |
| Audit-ready means a documented, repeatable system with trend evidence, not a one-off survey. |
| A practical 30/60/90-day plan can get most organisations from PAW-reliant to audit-ready. |
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Get audit-ready before PAW closes
Try Skodel's free, guided psychosocial planning tool, or speak with Sam McKenzie about a full assessment.
Try the free tool →
Contact Sam McKenzie →
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Presenters: Ian Fagan, Founder, Skodel; Sam McKenzie, Director of Psychosocial Compliance, Skodel |
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