Government WHS Consultants for the Public Sector
Independent WHS support for local councils, state and Commonwealth agencies and public bodies across Australia, from frontline service centres to outdoor works crews.
- 25+ years of WHS leadership, backed by postgraduate study in enterprise risk management and governance
- Independent assessments written for executives and audit and risk committees
- Australia-wide support that works alongside in-house WHS teams
Head Office
100 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, NSW AU 2000
Public sector WHS runs under a spotlight. One organisation might employ library staff, parking officers, parks crews, caseworkers and policy teams, each facing different hazards, and any incident can end up before an audit office, a parliamentary committee or the evening news. Officers carry personal due diligence duties, and the budget rarely stretches to fixing everything at once.
- Can your executive show how they verify that WHS controls are working in every business unit?
- Are frontline staff protected from aggression at the counter, on the phone and in the field?
- Do restructures, workload and public scrutiny show up in your psychosocial risk assessments?
- When contractors deliver public works or services, is their safety managed, or just written into the tender?
Our government WHS consultants work with public sector organisations to test and strengthen their WHS systems. This includes psychosocial risk, customer aggression, outdoor and depot work, lone and field workers, contractor management and officer due diligence. You get an independent view grounded in WHS law that your leaders can act on.
We work alongside your in-house WHS team, not around it. The goal is to add capacity and provide a fresh set of eyes, then leave your people with systems they can run.
How Our Government
WHS Consultants Support Your Team
Executives with evidence
Reporting and verification that let officers demonstrate due diligence to boards, audit and risk committees and regulators.
Frontline workers protected
Controls for occupational violence and aggression at service counters, in contact centres and during field visits.
One standard across business units
A single WHS system that holds from head office to the depot, instead of a dozen local versions.
Contractors managed, not assumed
Contractor safety requirements that carry through from procurement to the work itself, with monitoring along the way.
Our WHS Services for Government
& Public Sector
Scope a single piece of work or combine services into an organisation-wide program, with deliverables written to suit public sector reporting.
Give Your Executive an
Honest Picture of WHS
Book a free WHS assessment with a government WHS consultant and get an independent view of where your organisation stands, and what to fix first.
What's at Stake When Public Sector WHS Fails
Government organisations can be prosecuted under WHS laws like any other employer, and a serious incident in the public sector draws attention from every direction: the regulator, the minister’s office, the media and the community. The cost isn’t only legal. It can shake public trust in a service and in the people who deliver it.
Depending on the incident, consequences can include:
- Fines up to $1.5M for individuals and $3.7M for organisations
- Personal liability for senior officers who fail to exercise due diligence
- Regulator investigations, improvement notices and enforceable undertakings
- Workers' compensation costs that come straight out of public budgets
- Service disruption when teams, sites or programs are shut down
- Media and parliamentary scrutiny that lasts long after the incident
Almost all of this is avoidable with systems that work before something goes wrong. For a public body, prevention is also the far easier story to tell.
The GSD Safety Process
Structured to fit public sector governance through Assess, Align and Assure.
1. ASSESS
Two days on site reviewing your arrangements against WHS laws, the regulations and public sector practice. You receive a detailed risk analysis and a reporting dashboard suitable for executive and committee briefings.
2. ALIGN
A 90-day program that closes the priority gaps in a defensible order, from due diligence reporting and psychosocial risk to contractor controls, working with your WHS team as we go.
3. ASSURE
Continuing support from a senior WHS consultant on a structure that suits your organisation, adding expert capacity without adding permanent headcount.
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Fully Accredited
Companies We Work With
Public Sector WHS
Questions Answered
Do your government WHS consultants work with councils and agencies?
Yes. GSD Safety’s government WHS consultants support local councils, state and territory agencies, Commonwealth entities and other public sector bodies across Australia. We work with executives, WHS teams and business unit managers, from single sites to organisation-wide programs.
Which WHS laws apply to government organisations?
Commonwealth agencies are covered by the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011, regulated by Comcare. State agencies and councils fall under their state or territory WHS laws, and Victorian public bodies operate under Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. GSD Safety works across each of these frameworks, including Commonwealth entities based in Canberra.
Can GSD Safety work alongside our in-house WHS team?
Yes. GSD Safety can add capacity and an independent perspective to an existing public sector WHS team. We can run the assessment, lead specific improvement work or provide ongoing support, while your team keeps ownership of the system.
How do you help officers demonstrate due diligence?
GSD Safety helps public sector officers set up the information they need: WHS reporting that goes beyond injury numbers, regular checks that controls are working, and records showing risks have been considered and resourced. That gives executives and audit committees evidence, not just assurance statements. Our guide to the WHS Act covers the primary duty of care this sits on top of.
Can you help manage aggression toward frontline staff?
Yes. Occupational violence and aggression is a serious hazard for customer service, compliance, community and field staff. GSD Safety helps public sector organisations assess the risk and put controls in place, from reviewing service area layouts to procedures for escalation, reporting and post-incident support.
Is GSD Safety's WHS training nationally accredited?
No. GSD Safety delivers practical, non-accredited WHS training on site and through VR modules, designed to change how teams work rather than issue qualifications. Where staff need nationally recognised training, we’ll direct you to a Registered Training Organisation.