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Following three weeks of hearings and the calling of 20 witnesses, a psychosocial risk prosecution against Western Sydney Local Health District () has been withdrawn by 鈥� as announced by , which defended WSLHD in the proceedings. The withdrawal comes聽at a time when there has been increased regulatory focus on psychosocial safety, with Ashurst calling this a聽鈥渓andmark psychosocial risk prosecution鈥�.

The prosecution 鈥� which is one of the first safety prosecutions considering alleged failures to manage psychosocial risks 鈥� commenced in 2022 when SafeWork NSW alleged that WSLHD failed to manage psychosocial risks when responding to and investigating complaints, concerns and grievances made about and by two nurses.

SafeWork NSW鈥檚 withdrawal of the prosecution signifies the difficulty with proving breaches of the WHS Act in the context of managing psychosocial risks, Ashurst said in its announcement. The Ashurst team was led by partner Scarlet Reid.

鈥淲hile it was acknowledged during the proceedings that complaint and grievance handling processes are inherently stressful, the Court noted that the causing of stress through these processes is not a breach of the WHS Act,鈥� the Ashurst announcement read. 鈥淒ue to the withdrawal of the proceedings by SafeWork, the Court was not required to make any determination about the types of steps that should be taken by an employer to avoid stress becoming a risk of psychological injury.鈥�

Not published at the time of these proceedings, the includes a section on reasonable management action. In the code it is noted that while managing psychosocial hazards and risks may require decisions that may be perceived as causing stress and therefore a WHS risk, reasonable management action 鈥� when carried out lawfully and in a reasonable way 鈥� is a legitimate way to manage workplace behaviours.

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