Free psychosocial risk assessment for Australian workplaces
A compliance self-check and report for HR and WHS leaders.
This free psychosocial self-assessment helps HR and WHS leads check their organisation against the 14 psychosocial hazards named in the WHS Code of Practice, alongside the four-step duty cycle Australian regulators use to judge compliance.
Answer a short series of questions about how your team currently manages each hazard and you'll get a plain-English scorecard you can act on, including where the biggest gaps are and what to fix first.
How does your organisation compare? Take the free assessment.
It's anonymous, takes about five minutes, and your results appear on this page when you're done. We use your answers only to generate your report.
What are psychosocial hazards?
A psychosocial hazard is anything about the design or management of work, the working environment, equipment, or workplace interactions that could cause psychological or physical harm.
Unlike physical hazards, they're often invisible until someone gets hurt. A lift cage rattles. A psychosocial hazard typically shows up as turnover, sick leave, errors, or incidents long before anyone names the cause.
Since the 2022 update to the Model Code of Practice, psychosocial hazards are not a HR matter sitting alongside WHS. They sit inside it, with the same duty-of-care standard regulators apply to slips, trips, and machinery.
The 14 psychosocial hazards under the WHS Code of Practice
The Model Code of Practice published by Safe Work Australia names the categories of hazard that Australian PCBUs (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking) are expected to identify and manage. Most organisations carry a handful of these at any time. The assessment above rates each one for you.
Job demands
Workload, time pressure, emotional demands, or under-utilisation.
Job control
Whether workers have meaningful say in how, when, or what they do.
Support & access to help
Practical and emotional support available when work gets hard.
Role clarity
Whether workers know what they're accountable for and what they're not.
Change management
How restructures, system changes, or strategy shifts are communicated and managed.
Reward & recognition
Fair recognition, feedback, and acknowledgement of effort.
Organisational justice
Whether decisions about pay, promotion, and workloads feel fair and consistent.
Traumatic content
Exposure to distressing events, content, or aftermath as part of the work.
Remote or isolated work
Workers operating alone, off-site, after hours, or in remote locations.
Physical environment
Noise, temperature, lighting, ergonomics, or hazardous tasks that add mental load.
Violence & aggression
Threats, intimidation, or assault from clients, customers, or the public.
Bullying
Repeated unreasonable behaviour directed at a worker or group of workers.
Harassment
Unwelcome conduct including sexual harassment that demeans, offends, or intimidates.
Workplace relationships
Day-to-day team dynamics, incivility, and unresolved conflict.
What WHS law actually requires: the 4-step duty cycle
Section 19 of the WHS Act sets the duty: ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the psychological health and safety of workers. Following the four steps in the Code of Practice is the standard way Australian regulators expect PCBUs to discharge that duty.
Identify
Find the hazards. Surveys, one-to-ones, incident reports, near-misses, and exit interviews all count as evidence.
Assess and consult
Weigh duration, frequency, severity, and how many workers are exposed. Consult workers and their health and safety representatives.
Control
Eliminate the hazard at source where you can. If you cannot, redesign the work, change the systems, then train and support people.
Review
Check whether the controls actually worked. At least annually, or whenever the work changes materially.
Working through these four steps and keeping a record of what you did is one of the clearest ways to demonstrate compliance if a regulator ever asks. WHS law is state-based. New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT, and the Northern Territory follow harmonised versions of the Model Code. Western Australia adopted its own 2022 Code aligned with the Model. Victoria operates under OHS (not WHS) with WorkSafe Victoria's Psychological Health Compliance Code. The 14 hazard categories are consistent across all of them.
Who's responsible? PCBUs, officers, managers, workers
The duty to manage psychosocial risk is shared across four groups. Each carries a different responsibility under the WHS Act, and the assessment results map back to all of them.
- The PCBU (your organisation). Holds the primary duty under Section 19 of the WHS Act to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the psychological health and safety of workers.
- Officers (directors and senior executives). Have a personal due diligence duty under Section 27. They must understand the hazards and verify that resources and processes are in place.
- Managers and supervisors. Apply the systems day to day. Notice early warning signs, run consultations, and escalate when something is not working.
- Workers. Have a duty of reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others. They are expected to follow policies and to report hazards they see.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Since the 2022 amendments to the WHS regulations and the Model Code of Practice, the duty of care under Section 19 of the WHS Act explicitly covers psychological health.
PCBUs must identify psychosocial hazards, eliminate them so far as reasonably practicable, and minimise the risks that cannot be eliminated.
A hazard is the aspect of work that can cause harm, such as poor role clarity or high job demands. The risk is the likelihood and severity of harm if the hazard is not managed. You assess risk by weighing duration, frequency, severity, and the number of workers exposed.
At least every 12 months, and whenever the work, the workforce, or the regulator's guidance changes materially. Major change events such as restructures, new systems, or new sites should trigger a review regardless of timing.
No. An EAP sits at the bottom of the hierarchy of controls because it supports people after harm has occurred. Regulators have explicitly said this is not sufficient on its own. You also need to address hazards at the source by redesigning work, systems, and culture.
The primary duty sits with the PCBU. Officers carry a personal due diligence duty under Section 27. Managers apply the systems day to day. Workers have a duty of reasonable care and to report hazards they see.
Bullying is repeated unreasonable behaviour directed at a worker that creates a risk to health and safety. Harassment is unwelcome conduct that offends, humiliates, or intimidates a worker, and includes sexual harassment. Both are recognised hazards under the Code of Practice.
The 14 hazard categories are consistent across the country because they come from the Safe Work Australia Model Code. The regulator and the exact code title vary: NSW, Queensland, SA, Tasmania, ACT, and NT follow harmonised versions of the Model Code. Western Australia adopted its own 2022 Code aligned with it. Victoria operates under OHS (not WHS), with WorkSafe Victoria's Psychological Health Compliance Code.
No. This is a controls maturity self-assessment for HR, WHS, and people leaders. It scores how mature your organisation's controls are. A worker psychosocial survey captures how workers experience the workplace day to day. Validated worker surveys include COPSOQ and the ISO 45003 self-assessment, or you can commission a tailored worker survey. The two layers are complementary: pair this with a worker survey for a complete picture.
The People at Work (PAW) tool is now decommissioned and no longer supported. PAW was the free Australian psychosocial survey developed by the People at Work Project. Organisations that have relied on it will need to transition to alternatives such as COPSOQ, the ISO 45003 self-assessment or a commissioned worker survey.
Yes. Talked's specialist team supports Australian organisations with end-to-end psychosocial risk programmes, including worker surveys, hazard registers, control implementation, and manager training aligned with the Code of Practice in your state. Complete the self-assessment above and share your details on the results page, or email team@talked.com.au, and a Talked specialist will be in touch.
Around five minutes. Your responses are used to generate your report and to help Talked understand which hazards matter most across industries. We do not share organisation-specific results with anyone outside Talked.
You can review your report on screen straight away. You'll be able to print a version and save it to PDF too. If you would like one of our specialists to walkthrough the results, you can get in touch with our team.
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