WHS Expert Witness
Melbourne

WHS Expert Witness in Melbourne, Victoria

Victoria did not adopt the harmonised WHS Act. The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) and the OHS Regulations 2017 apply, together with the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 from 1 December 2025. This distinction matters: the duty of care structure, the regulations and the enforcement framework in Victoria differ from the WHS Act jurisdictions. Expert reports for Victorian matters are prepared against the OHS Act 2004 standard, not the harmonised WHS Act 2011. Safe Work Australia guidance is still relevant as a comparator, but the applicable legislation is Victorian.

Victorian matters commonly involve manufacturing in the western and northern suburbs, construction in the CBD and inner ring, healthcare and aged care across metropolitan Melbourne and agricultural incidents in regional Victoria. The large healthcare workforce in Melbourne makes patient handling and psychosocial injury claims particularly common.

Karim is Sydney-based and travels to Melbourne for site inspections and hearings. Direct flights connect Sydney and Melbourne in under two hours, allowing same-day inspection and return for most metropolitan Melbourne locations. For regional Victoria, advance planning of two to four weeks is recommended.

Injured Victorian workers can only sue their employer for common law damages if they have a serious injury under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013, shown either by a whole person impairment of 30 per cent or more or under the narrative test. If WorkSafe does not accept the serious injury application, the worker can apply to the County Court. The worker must also prove negligence, and WHS expert evidence usually goes to that question: what the employer knew, what precautions were reasonably available and whether they were taken. Public liability claims are decided under Part X of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), with the general principles in section 48.