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Content note: This newsletter discusses the death of a television participant and references suicide. If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
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Skodel Newsletter · 2026
Regulators are now examining psychosocial risk in entertainment workplaces.
Two cases in 2025 and 2026, one involving MAFS and the other The Kyle and Jackie O Show, have drawn SafeWork NSW and the ACMA into questions about whether entertainment workplaces adequately protect the people who work in them.
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Key Figures
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3
Improvement notices issued to MAFS by SafeWork NSW
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12
Code of Practice breaches recorded against ARN in 2025
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5 yrs
Duration of ACMA licence conditions imposed on ARN in March 2026
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2nd
SafeWork investigation into MAFS triggered in 2026
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SafeWork NSW confirmed in May 2026 that it is continuing to investigate psychosocial concerns at Married at First Sight, following the death of a participant and multiple complaints from others. |
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In March 2026, the ACMA imposed 5-year licence conditions on ARN following 12 recorded breaches of the Commercial Radio Code of Practice, citing an inability by ARN management to control on-air content. |
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Both cases raise questions that extend beyond media regulation into work health and safety, specifically, whether the people working in these environments are being adequately protected from foreseeable psychological harm. |
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Under the NSW WHS Regulation 2025, psychosocial risks must be managed through the same hierarchy of controls applied to physical hazards. That standard, applied to entertainment workplaces, raises questions about how production environments are currently managed. |
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| Skodel Case Analysis |
Married at First Sight |
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The facts
SafeWork NSW · Endemol Shine / Nine Network · 2025 and 2026
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SafeWork NSW received four separate complaints about psychosocial concerns during MAFS filming. Three improvement notices were issued covering the reporting of notifiable incidents, systems of work to manage physical and psychosocial hazards, and WHS training. |
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A second investigation was triggered in 2026 following a fresh request for service. SafeWork confirmed it is continuing to monitor the production. The matter was raised in NSW Parliament by MP Mark Latham in connection with the death of a participant. |
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The production maintains a psychologist on set and states that welfare support is available during filming, broadcast, and post-broadcast. Participant accounts, however, have raised concerns about the independence of that support, noting that welfare staff are employed by the production company, creating a potential conflict of interest. |
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Under the NSW WHS Regulation 2025, providing access to support is not sufficient on its own. The duty requires that support be genuinely accessible and independent. Whether welfare resources employed by a production company meet that standard is one of the questions SafeWork appears to be examining. |
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| Skodel Case Analysis |
The Kyle and Jackie O Show |
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The facts
ACMA · ARN · March 2026
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The ACMA recorded 12 breaches of the Commercial Radio Code of Practice against ARN in 2025 alone. Earlier enforcement actions had already been taken for breaches dating back to 2019. Previous responses, including requirements for an additional censor and compliance training, did not prevent further breaches. |
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In March 2026, the ACMA imposed 5-year licence conditions on ARN applying to any program featuring the hosts. ACMA Chair Nerida O'Loughlin stated: "ARN management have been unwilling or unable to control the content that has gone to air." The conditions open the door to civil penalties, remedial directions, and licence suspension. |
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The show's breakdown in March 2026 also had a workplace dimension. A co-host departed following an on-air incident. The remaining host was subsequently suspended by ARN for serious misconduct in breach of contract. These events sit outside the ACMA's remit but within the scope of WHS duty of care obligations. |
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ARN challenged one of the new conditions, arguing it was beyond the ACMA's power. The ACMA imposed it regardless. The ACMA also required ARN to commission an independent audit of its governance framework, acknowledging the problem is structural rather than solely editorial. |
The co-regulatory framework under which the ACMA operates requires the regulator to work through industry-set codes before escalating to stronger enforcement tools. Both the MAFS and ARN cases suggest that framework has not moved quickly enough to prevent harm from accumulating before intervention.
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| Skodel Case Analysis |
Hazards and Risk Factors |
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Psychosocial hazards at play
Identified across both cases under the Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice
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Poor Organisational Justice
Participant concerns not independently heard · welfare staff employed by the same entity controlling outcomes
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High
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Poor Physical Environment
Production environments designed to maximise stress · no documented risk management of that design
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High
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Conflict or Poor Workplace Relationships and Interactions
On-air conflict and distress as a production outcome · limited independent debrief or aftercare
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Mod-High
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| Skodel Case Analysis |
Key Questions |
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What these cases raise
Questions that apply beyond entertainment to any workplace where psychological risk is foreseeable
What the cases identify
| Providing a support service does not on its own discharge a psychosocial duty of care. Under the NSW WHS Regulation 2025, the support must be genuinely accessible and genuinely independent. |
| Co-regulatory frameworks that require exhausting a compliance pathway before meaningful enforcement can act have, in both cases, allowed harm to accumulate over several years before intervention reached sufficient intensity. |
| The UK introduced enhanced psychological vetting, social media training, and extended aftercare for reality TV participants following participant deaths in 2018 and 2019. Australia has not yet introduced comparable standards. |
What remains unresolved
| Whether reality television participants are "workers" under the WHS Act remains legally unresolved. Production companies exercise significant practical control over their conditions, but formal employer status has not been tested. |
| If a production model is designed to generate psychological stress as its product, does that model itself constitute a psychosocial hazard requiring control? The underlying production design has not yet been formally examined. |
| The psychological safety of on-air talent and production staff sits within WHS scope. The Kyle and Jackie O breakdown brought this into focus and a SafeWork investigation is underway. |
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Speak with Skodel's Director of Psychosocial Compliance
To discuss psychosocial risk management approaches for your workplace, contact Sam McKenzie directly.
Contact Sam McKenzie →
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