Do Employers have to report workplace assaults to WorkSafe ACT?
Since the recent decision handed down in the ACT Magistrates Court of Agius v Monaro Mix Specified Concrete Pty Ltd {2026) ACTMC 10, we’ve had employers calling us asking whether they need to be reporting allegations of sexual assaults in the workplace to WorkSafe ACT.
The answer: probably!
Under section 38 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (ACT), a person conducting a business must notify WorkSafe ACT immediately after becoming aware of a “notifiable incident”, which has always included serious injuries or dangerous incidents. Since 2022, this category has included sexual assault incidents — defined broadly enough to capture not just confirmed assaults, but suspected ones too.
In the recent case, an employee alleged a colleague had brushed against her breasts while training her on a concrete truck. She raised it, in fairly ambiguous terms, with two managers on the day she was terminated.
Monaro Mix didn’t report it to WorkSafe, and WorkSafe ACT eventually came after them for failing to notify. Magistrate Temby found that the prosecution still had to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that the relevant managers actually formed that suspicion from what they were told. Because the employee’s own description of the incident was equivocal, the court couldn’t be sure they did.
The takeaway for employers is that the threshold for notifying WorkSafe ACT is low.
If you have a suspicion that the allegation might be true, your safer option is to report it. Reporting it to WorkSafe doesn’t necessarily mean an investigation or any onerous obligations will follow; but you could be at risk of prosecution and hefty fines if you don’t.
